How To Save The Multiverse
by pineapplefreak
Summary: Dark things are stirring in every dimension, and The Man in the Moon has called upon the greatest of warriors from each dimension to become the heroes that are needed- even if they are mere teenagers. Jack, Merida, Hiccup, and Rapunzel must accept their new destinies and learn to work together. Because it's not just about saving the world this time; it's so much bigger than that.
1. Prologue: Darkness Rising

**This plot bunny could not have picked a worse time to possess me: right at the end of summer, with school and sports about to start, and at the same time I'm writing another story. But it's just one of those that you just can't let go, you know? Not to mention I love all four of these movies to death. Be warned: because of these things, it may not be updated very quickly. I promise you though that I'm not one of those authors who just abandons everything for months without telling her readers why.**

**This is a ROTBTD fic, so it will have crossover from these four movies: Rise of the Guardians, Brave, Tangled, and How To Train Your Dragon. And there's a possibility characters from other Disney and Dreamworks movies might make appearances. If they do, however, you can rest assured they won't be major characters.**

**Also, the title might change. It was just the best thing I could think of at the moment. Pairings (if any) are undecided, but there will be no slash.**

**I'm actually pretty excited for this, to be honest, and I hope you are too!**

* * *

Prologue: Darkness Rising

_"Demons are like obedient dogs; they come when they are called." _  
_― _Remy de Gourmot

* * *

The room was dark. That was the only sure thing that could be said about it. The wall, the floor, and the ceiling were constantly changing; sometimes it was a rocky cave, sometimes a crumbling castle, sometimes a dense night forest, sometimes a cloud of smoke. For this place existed between dimensions, and where dimensions meet nothing can be certain.

Suddenly, the darkness was disturbed by a soft blue light. The source of the light was a little wispy creature of smoke that lit up with blue fire deep within. The creature began to change, growing and morphing into the shape of a tall, muscled man dressed in clothes of fur that displayed his bare tattooed chest. His long brown hair framed his cruel, regal face. Twin axes were slung across his back. He stood perfectly still, as if he was waiting for something.

Or rather, someone.

A new figure emerged from the shadows. They wore a cloak with a hood covering their face, but when the hood was pulled back it revealed a woman with long curly black hair streaked with gray and clever gray eyes. The woman wore a long, wine-colored dress with a gold belt, and a sheathed dagger hung from her waist. When she spoke her voice was warm, though her smile was razor sharp.

"Mor'du! What a pleasure to see you again! And looking so young and human, too!"

Mor'du nodded in greeting. "I could say the same for you, Gothel," he said in a deep voice. "Last I heard you were a pile of dust. How did you manage to survive without your precious flower?"

Gothel waved a slender hand dismissively. "Oh, surely _you _didn't believe that I had died. I'm much harder to kill than that. And there are other ways of being immortal." She sighed and flicked a strand of her gray locks. "It's not as good as Rapunzel was, but it's something."

Another gruff voice pierced the darkness. "Stressing about your hair again, Gothel?"

Mor'du and Gothel turned to the newcomer. He was nearly as large as Mor'du, with a wild beard and mane underneath his horned helmet. His clothes looked like they were made from some scaly material, and giant spiked plates protected his shoulders. He, like Mor'du, carried an ax.

"Alvin the Treacherous," Mor'du said, sounding mildly surprised. "I didn't know you were involved in these sorts of things."

"If by 'these sorts of things' you mean magic, then you're wrong," Alvin answered. "It's true I used to rely on brute force, but I've recently been much more open-minded about my methods."

Gothel laughed scornfully. "Darling, why don't you stick to your axes. You're in over your head here."

Alvin raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"

Suddenly, the room was filled with distant whispers. Before anyone could figure out where the noise was coming from, the ground at Alvin's feet erupted, and a huge winged creature with milky white eyes and thousands of sharp rotating teeth in its enormous mouth flew into the air besides Alvin with an ear-splitting roar. However, when Alvin put a hand on its head it instantly calmed.

"Now, now, Deathblow," he said, sounding amused. "Let's not devour our comrades."

"Well, well, it looks as if I am late to the party."

The fourth voice was smooth and sophisticated, a stark contrast to Alvin's rough tone. It seemed to come from everywhere at once, and as the trio looked around for the speaker they saw nothing but the shifting shadows. But then a man seemed to melt out of the darkness; he was tall and lithe and wore only a simple robe as black as night. His skin was gray and his hair was ebony and his eyes were like amber solar eclipses. He didn't carry a weapon, but something about him suggested that he did not need one.

"I do hope nothing too exciting has happened without me," he continued.

Gothel smiled. "Not at all, Pitch. You _are _the one who invited us here, after all."

"Yes," said Mor'du. "Why is that?"

"I have a proposition for you all," he answered.

"What sort of proposition?" Mor'du asked.

"I want you to join forces with me in the coming war."

"Interesting," Alvin said, stroking his dragon. "What's in it for us?"

Pitch shrugged. "Not much. Multi-dimensional domination. Revenge against your enemies. Power beyond your imagination."

"Is that so?" Gothel said.

"Yes," he continued. "Why, Gothel, you could win faultless immortality, get rid of that wispy airhead of a girl Rapunzel, and become Queen of Corona if you wished! Alvin, you could extend your influence far beyond that tiny island of Berk, become learned in the ways of dark magic, and finally have complete control over that Hiccup boy and his dragon. And as for you, Mor'du, you could permanently return to your human form instead of that little wisp, regain control of your kingdom and beyond, and eliminate that Merida girl once and for all."

"You are very persuasive," Mor'du admitted grudgingly.

Pitch smiled slightly. "I pride myself on it."

"What about you, Pitch?" Alvin asked. "Surely you must have something to gain."

"Of course. I can spread my darkness to every corner of every dimension, finally eradicate those pesky Guardians, and personally destroy the one who stole my victory the last time."

"Oh yes, I heard about that," Gothel said, a smile playing across her lips. "Pitch Black, the great King of Nightmares, defeated by a _child_."

Pitch scowled. "Jack Frost is hardly a child," he snapped. "He is over 300 years old."

Gothel laughed. "Oh, I seem to have struck a nerve there."

"Don't forget, all of you were defeated by children as well," Pitch reminded her sharply.

"But _we _are not immortal beings of fear with legions of nightmares at our command," Mor'du pointed out.

"You could be," said Pitch. "If you join me."

"Very tempting," Alvin said.

"What have you got to lose?" Pitch asked, looking around at them all. "You're already at the bottom."

There was a hesitant silence, and then Gothel spoke up. "Oh, why not. I haven't had any fun in a while."

Alvin looked at his dragon, which roared in approval. He grinned. "Deathblow and I are in."

Mor'du reached back and hefted one of his axes in his grasp. "I will join you as well."

Pitch smiled, a dangerous smile that hinted of terrible things to come. "Excellent." Then his voice rose, reverberating about the room. "Then let the Second Dark Age begin!"

* * *

**Right, a little extra note here. I'm going to do the quote thing before every chapter, and they will be somewhat relevant to the story (at least in my mind). And remember, reviews are love! :)**


	2. Complicated

Chapter 1: Complicated

_"I'm not exactly a guy who makes friends easily."_

- Tom Petty

* * *

It was snowing in the little Pennsylvania town of Burgess: big, soft flakes that stuck to the ground and accumulated quickly. It was a welcome sight for everyone; Christmas was just a few short weeks away, and seeing the snow was a cheery reminder. The children especially were excited by the falling snow. Well, one child in particular, really.

Jamie Bennett, a young boy with messy brown hair and chocolate eyes, stepped out from the warmth of his house into the cold air that bit his lungs when he breathed it in. When he heard the door to the porch open behind him, he turned around to see a younger girl with equally messy blonde hair and big green eyes come out after him.

"Jamie, whatcha doin'?" she asked in her young, childish voice.

"I'm waiting, Sophie," he answered. He paused, and then said, "Do you remember Jack Frost, Soph? Do you want to see him again?"

Her emerald eyes widened. "The boy with the big stick and the pretty hair!"

Jamie laughed. "Yep, that's him."

Sophie turned in a circle, looking around. "Where? Where?"

"He's not here yet," Jamie told her, looking out over the snowy landscape. "But he will be soon."

Suddenly, something hard and cold and wet hit Jamie hard in the side of the head, knocking him to the porch floor. Sophie shrieked in alarm, but it quickly changed to giggles when she realized what the projectile was: a snowball. Jamie looked up at his assailant, who was perched on the porch railing like a bird set to take wing.

He wore fraying brown pants with leather straps around the legs and a loose blue hoodie, and he was barefoot. His sloppy windswept hair was silvery white, and his skin was unnaturally pale. His eyes were a bright glacial blue that glinted with laughter and mischief, and his crooked grin was white enough to rival the snow. In his hand he clutched a long wooden staff that bent at the end like a shepherd's crook, forming a shape that looked like a capital G.

"C'mon Jack, no fair!" Jamie complained, though he was smiling. "I didn't even know you were there!"

"And whose fault is that?" the boy named Jack Frost answered. "You gotta sharpen your senses, buddy."

"I don't _need _sharpened senses," Jamie pointed out.

Jack gave him an incredulous look. "What about when you're in the middle of a snowball fight and you are sent out from the protection of the fort to gather ammo and there are snowballs flying everywhere? All it takes is just one hit and you're down. You have to sense everything at once in the cutthroat world of snow warfare."

Jamie stared at him for a second. "I think you take these things just a bit too seriously."

Jack laughed. "Kiddo, I pride myself on not being too serious about _anything_."

"Jack Jack Jack!" Sophie cried, jumping up and down with her arms outstretched.

Jack jumped off the porch railing and obligingly scooped the little girl up. "Hey, Sophie," he said. He poked her right in the belly, which caused her to giggle uncontrollably. "Wanna have some fun today?"

"Fun!" Sophie repeated, clapping her hands.

Jack set Sophie down and helped Jamie up. "Let's go find your friends. I haven't seen them in a while."

"You haven't seen _any_ of us in a while," Jamie said as they started down the front steps of the porch and onto the sidewalk, Sophie in tow. "How come?"

Jack sighed and ran a hand through his snowy hair. "Oh, I've just been busy. There's a lot more work to this whole Guardian gig than I first thought."

Jamie looked puzzled. "But if Pitch is gone, why would you still need to work so hard?"

"It's been- what, almost two years now?" he said. "We regained most of the stragglers of believers that we lost on Easter last Christmas, but there are always new believers to be made. And since I'm part of the team now, I have to help out with that. Not that I'm complaining," he added quickly. He flashed a grin at Jamie. "It gets _me _more believers, too."

"That's great, Jack," Jamie said.

Just then, a feminine voice called to the trio from across the street. "Jack! Jamie! Sophie!"

Jack looked over to see a group of kids waving to them. Jamie's friend Pippa, the one who had spoken, called out again. "C'mon, you guys! Everyone is going to the park. I mean, _everyone_!"

"How many?" Jack shouted.

"At least thirty kids!" she answered, running in the direction of the park to catch up with the others.

Jack looked at Jamie. "Sounds like the beginning of a pretty epic snowball war to me."

When they arrived at the park children of all sizes were already splitting into teams, building forts, and gathering ammunition. The atmosphere was so charged that Jack could tell it would only take one snowball to throw the place into a frenzy.

And he loved to be the one to throw the first snowball.

After it was over, Jamie declared it to be the "greatest, awesomest, funnest, most amazing snowball war ever", and Jack had to agree with him. It also happened to be one of the longest fights he had ever been in. Because of the shortening days, the sun was already sinking below the horizon by the time the children decided to go home and try and coax some feeling back into their extremities. Jack accompanied the Bennett siblings home along with the twins Claude and Caleb, who were having a sleepover with Jamie.

"I can't feel my toes," Caleb groaned. "Are they still there?"

Claude laughed. "Dude, what if you have frostbite and we have to cut them all off?"

Caleb looked panicked. "That wouldn't happen, would it?" When no one responded he repeated, "_Would it?_"

Jamie snorted. "You're so gullible, Caleb."

Caleb looked offended. "It's a reasonable question."

Claude looked at Jack, who was walking barefoot as usual through the snow with no signs of discomfort. "I'll never understand how you can do that," he said to him. "Do you have no feeling in your feet or something?"

Jack looked amused. "I can feel the cold, Claude. It just doesn't bother me. I actually prefer it."

"I wish it was that way with me," Jamie said, rubbing his hands together. "Then I could play in the snow all day without getting cold at all."

Sophie, who up until that point had been silent, loosed an enormous yawn. She was so tired her eyes were half closed, and she stumbled as she walked, trailing slightly behind the boys. Jack fell back a little bit and picked up the sleepy little girl, letting her ride on his back with her arms around his neck and her head resting against his shoulder.

Soon the group arrived back at Jamie's house, and Jack stood by the fence as the children continued up the walk and onto the porch. He waved goodbye and they returned the gesture before turning and heading inside where hot chocolate and a warm fire awaited.

The sunlight had almost completely faded from the horizon by now, and as Jack walked down the sidewalk the streetlights flickered on, illuminating dim pools of light in the gloom. Jack jumped onto the fence that bordered the sidewalk and balanced on his toes, holding his staff out behind him and leaving a trail of frost in his wake.

Suddenly, something dark flashed by very quickly in Jack's peripheral vision, startling him and almost causing him to lose his balance. He turned toward the direction of the dark something with his staff raised, but saw nothing there. Then it streaked past in the corner of his other eye, and he whirled around to face that way. But again, there was nothing to be seen.

Jack's spine prickled uneasily as he stood stock-still, his senses on high alert. After a full minute of being absolutely unmoving, however, he lowered his staff and loosened his tense posture. He was just being paranoid, he was sure. It was probably just a bird, or another animal, or just a trick of his mind. Shaking off the unsettling feeling, Jack called the wind to his side and took to the dark sky.

A few hours later somewhere in the middle of Canada, Jack decided to pick a tree and rest for the night. He looked around at the wintry forest that surrounded him, his most recent work. He reached out and caught a snowflake in his hand, sighing contentedly before letting it fall through his fingers and twirl to the ground. He got into a more comfortable position and closed his eyes, but no sooner had he begun to drift off than a burst of color and light shone through his eyelids. His eyes snapped open and focused on the sky above, which was lit with dancing ribbons of every color: the Aurora Borealis.

To the rest of the world the Northern Lights were nothing more than a display of nature's beauty, a wonder of the heavens. But Jack knew what they really meant: he was being summoned. Abandoning any hopes for sleep tonight, he flew off of his branch and headed north. And as he went, he wondered.

The Aurora Borealis was only used for emergencies, Jack knew. Whatever North was calling the Guardians together at short notice for, it was important. But things had seemed quiet lately, at least everywhere he had been. Did it have anything to do with the strange dark things he had seen in Burgess?

Within a matter of moments Jack had left Canada behind and was steadily speeding over the islands of Greenland, heading straight for the North Pole. Another minute later and that was out of sight as well. Soon he saw the lights of the Pole shining through the gloom, nestled within the mountain's icy clutches. The main doors were thrown wide open, and yetis stood on either side to welcome him in.

As Jack landed and walked through the doors, he nodded in greeting to the yetis. They returned it, and Jack tried to gauge the seriousness of the situation by their demeanor. They seemed more somber than normal, but not so much so that they could not offer him smiles. So it was not a case of imminent doom, then. That was something to be grateful for.

The globe room was far from empty when Jack arrived. There was the usual commotion of yetis and elves going about their business, and North was standing by the main console, deep in conversation with Sandy and Bunny. As Jack watched, Sandy formed the image of a sword over his head. North shook his head and said something in reply that Jack could not hear, but it caused a look of both surprise and alarm to cross Bunny's face. The Pooka pointed at the Globe of Belief as he spoke agitatedly, but North calmed him, seeming to be reassuring him. Sandy formed a ticking clock above his head, but with a few more words and a reassuring gesture from North he too relaxed, though there were still worry lines creasing his forehead.

Curious, Jack went over to the group to find out what was going on. North was the first to spot him.

"Ah, Jack!" He said welcomingly. "Good, you are here. Now we are just waiting for Tooth."

But, even as he spoke her name, Tooth entered the globe room, flying backwards as she spoke to her mini fairies.

"… got into a fist fight so you might need help carrying them all. Thirty-five Eastwood Lane, Yorkshire, Sector Two, bottom left incisor, it's her first tooth so be extra careful…"

The mini fairies dispersed, and Tooth spun around to face the other Guardians. "Sorry I'm late, guys."

"That's quite alright, Tooth," North said. "May I speak to you privately for a moment?"

He took her aside and they began speaking in lowered voices, and Jack couldn't make out what they were saying. He turned to Bunny, who was still looking a little upset.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"Yes," Bunny said in reply. But he didn't elaborate.

"Well, what is it?" Jack prompted.

"Uh…" Bunny hesitated. "Well, mate, that's where it gets complicated."

"Complicated…?"

North and Tooth had returned now, Tooth glancing at Jack worriedly. It drove Jack nuts, all the secrecy and the crypticness. It seemed like everyone knew what was going on except for him, and from the looks the others were giving him he was sure it was _about_ him.

"Did I do something?" he asked.

"Why would you ask that?" Tooth said.

"Because you're all giving me weird looks and you called this meeting even though there doesn't appear to be anything wrong," he pointed to the globe, which looked normal. No dimming lights or waves of shadow or black sand. "Not to mention you're all talking about something and leaving me out of it, and it's actually driving me a little bit insane."

"Alright, Jack," North said. "Here's the thing. There has been increased nightmare activity around the world for about a week now. It is subtle, but it's there. Normally that wouldn't be too big deal for us, more minor problem than anything else. Something Sandy could take care of himself. Only… it's been happening in other places, too. Places it shouldn't be. Other dimensions are being affected."

Jack's eyebrows rose. "Wait… other _dimensions_?"

"Yes. And another problem is the nightmares are changing. Evolving. They are becoming stronger, harder to defeat." He paused. "This leads us to believe that Pitch is making another bid for power… but this time he is not alone."

Jack's mouth went dry. Not alone? He remembered how awfully close they had come to defeat last time, when Pitch had been the only enemy. How would they handle him _and_ his friends?

"Well, that's no big deal, right?" He asked uncertainly. "We just go to these other dimensions and stop these other bad guys before they have a chance to do anything."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Jack," Tooth said. "There are laws, ancient laws of magic that keep us here. When we became Guardians, when we took the oath, we were bound to our realms on this Earth, this dimension. We can't just up and leave and go to a different dimension. We can communicate with the other dimensions and we can fight here, but we can't fight in other dimensions."

Jack was silent for a moment as her words sank in. "So… we're stuck here."

Sandy shook his head. He pointed to himself, and then to Bunny, Tooth, and North. But when he pointed to Jack, he made an X sign over his head.

"_We_ are stuck here," Bunny reiterated. "But _you_ are not."

"Why can I leave but you can't?" he asked, confused.

"Because your realm is not a place," North explained. "While my realm is here, at the Pole, and Tooth's is the Palace and Bunny's is the Warren and Sandy's is his island, you do not have a physical location to call your own. Your realm, my friend, is winter, and winter exists in almost every dimension. You can go wherever you want."

"The thing is, so can Pitch," Bunny added. "Because he is not a Guardian."

Jack looked between each of his friends. "What are you saying? That I'm on my own?"

"No!" Tooth protested. "Not at all! Like I said, we can help with the battles that happen in this world, we just can't accompany you to the others."

"Which is why," North said, pointing to the skylight through which the moon could be seen, "Manny has chosen warriors from the other dimensions to help."

"More Guardians?" Jack asked in surprise. He knew that new Guardians were rare; his own joining had caused quite a commotion in the spirit world. He could only imagine the chaos a sudden addition of multiple Guardians would cause.

But then North spoke. "Did I say Guardians? No. I said warriors."

"The term 'warriors' is kinda strong, though," Bunny said. He sighed heavily. "They're not even trained."

Jack stared at him for a second before looking at North incredulously. "_Not trained? _How old are they?"

"Fifteen, sixteen, and eighteen," North said.

Jack's eyes widened. "You're going to throw me into a multi-dimensional war with no help except for a few untrained _kids_?"

"They have fought in battles before," North told him. "And it would not be first time we were helped by children. Besides, you are about the same age as them."

"I'm three hundred- eighteen, North."

"But physically, you are seventeen. And still a child at heart, am I wrong?"

Jack didn't deny it.

"Jack, just give them a try," Tooth said. "We'll bring them here, and we'll train them so that they are just as good at fighting as you."

Jack sighed in resignation. After a brief silence he asked, "Do they know about all this?"

Sandy shook his head.

"No," North confirmed. "But they will soon."

"Now all we have to do is bring them here," Bunny said. His face darkened. "Before someone _else_ finds them."

* * *

**Review!**


	3. Trouble in Corona

**It occurred to me recently that some of you, if you have seen the HTTYD movie but not the show, might not know who Alvin the Treacherous is, so let's just say he's a character from the show and basically Hiccup's archenemy. He's also a character from the books, but I figured if I was going to use the TV version of Hiccup I might as well use the TV version of Alvin, too, instead of his book version.**

**On to the story!**

* * *

Chapter 2: Trouble in Corona

_"All great changes are preceded by chaos."_

-Deepak Chopra

* * *

Princess Rapunzel of Corona ran as fast as she could, her breath ragged and uneven and her feet bare. She didn't dare glance behind her, for that would only slow her down. And slowing down was not something she could afford to do.

_Run run run run run… _the mantra repeated over and over in her head, spurring her forward.

She sprinted down to the end of the hall, and barely slowed at all as she rounded the corner… straight into a pair of strong arms that captured her. She gasped and struggled for a moment, before realizing who it was that held her.

"Whoa, Blondie," Eugene said to her, kissing her playfully on the tip of her nose. "What's the hurry?"

Rapunzel giggled and took a step back, blowing a piece of her short brown hair out of her big green eyes. "It's my mom," she said with an exasperated sigh. "You know how there's that big ball tonight for the ambassadors from the nearby kingdoms?"

Eugene nodded. "Of course. I'll be there, right next to you the whole time." He put his hand on her waist and swung her around, pulling her into another kiss, on the lips this time.

Rapunzel pulled away, but she was smiling happily. "Well, Mom intends to put me in a corset. A _corset, _Eugene! I hate those things so much. It's so hard to move properly and even harder to breathe."

"You don't need a corset," Eugene said. "You could go just as you are and still be the prettiest girl in the room."

Rapunzel looked down at her thin, rumpled dress. It was getting a little short on her, falling a few inches below her knees. The pink and purple silk also had several grass stains from all the time she spent in the palace gardens. It was a mess, and Eugene knew it.

"You're a terrible flirt," she said to her husband, a smile playing across her lips. "And hopelessly cheesy."

Eugene grinned. "And that's exactly why you fell in love with me." He leaned in to kiss her again.

"Eugene, honestly!" Rapunzel said with a laugh, putting a finger to his lips. "I have to go, before-"

"Rapunzel!" The voice accompanied the exasperated face of Queen Primrose as she rounded the corner, Rapunzel's shoes in one hand and a corset in the other.

"- my mom finds me," Rapunzel finished with a sigh.

"Rapunzel, sweetie, I know you don't like it, but the ambassadors are all going to be there, and don't you want to look nice? And can't you at least wear shoes?" The Queen's tone was pleading, almost desperate.

"Shoes are overrated," Rapunzel stated. "And who's going to notice if I wear a corset or not? I'm already thin as a stick." It was true. The princess's frame was very small, and her arms were thin enough that, if Eugene tried, he could probably wrap his hand all the way around her forearm.

"It's more of a formality than anything," the Queen said. "Please, Rapunzel? For me?"

Rapunzel's willpower crumbled at the sight of her mom's pleading countenance. "Oh… alright. But just for tonight."

The Queen's face brightened. "Wonderful! Then let's go get you ready!"

She took Rapunzel's arm and began leading her away. The princess glanced over her shoulder at Eugene. _Save me, _she mouthed.

Eugene only shrugged. _Good luck, _he whispered back.

Then Rapunzel and the Queen rounded the corner and Eugene disappeared from sight. Rapunzel turned to her mom as she began speaking.

"I know this is your first _real _ball, but I don't want you to be nervous. Some of the ambassadors are good friends, like Sir Fabian from Goredd and Lady Evalina from Selvana. They'll be so thrilled to meet you after all this time! Evalina isn't too much older than you, actually…"

She continued, but Rapunzel wasn't really listening. She was looking down at the soft carpet beneath her feet, or more specifically the vine design that embroidered along the whole length of it. Walking in a slightly wayward pattern, she followed the path of the vine all the way down the hall. Her mind wandered, thinking that maybe a flowering vine would be a nice addition to the walls of her room. The walls were so extremely bare without art, after all. But she was working on changing that.

Had the Queen not been steering her by the arm she would have walked right past the door to her bedroom. Her mom half dragged her inside the enormous room and with a cheery goodbye handed her over to the ladies-in-waiting before going to get ready for the ball herself. Ellie, one of the ladies, eyed her suspiciously with the corset in hand.

"You're not going to run, are you?" she asked.

Rapunzel sighed. "I tried that already, so no."

"Good."

Ellie helped her into the corset, pulling the laces so tight Rapunzel thought her ribs might crack. She gasped for breath, and Ellie looked at her sympathetically.

"I don't like them any more than you do, miss, but it must be done."

"Easy for you to say," Rapunzel grumbled. "You're not wearing one."

Just then several of the other ladies-in-waiting came in with her clothes for the ball and the jewelry she would wear with it. They slipped the gown over her head, and Rapunzel turned to look at it in the mirror. It was a deep royal purple embroidered and laced in what she suspected was real gold. The skirt was sweeping and full, the fabric gathered at the waist so that it draped down artistically. The sleeves stopped just above her elbow. It was by far the fanciest dress she had ever worn; even her wedding gown had been simpler than this.

Her jewelry was a gold necklace with a single amethyst pendant and her tiara. The shoes were the same shade of purple as the dress with two-inch heels that caused her to wobble uncertainly. Ellie did her makeup, which comprised of a layer of foundation to cover her freckles, a soft blush, pale pink lipstick, and subtle accents of purple eye shadow. There wasn't much that could be done with her hair; it was too short and choppy.

Ellie sighed. "I don't understand why you don't want to grow your hair out, Rapunzel. You could do so much more with it that way."

"I told you," Rapunzel said, running her fingers through her hair. "I like it much better short. I wouldn't trade it back for long hair if you offered me the world."

Ellie just shook her head, but Rapunzel didn't expect her to understand.

Still wanting to pretty up her hair somehow, the ladies-in-waiting strung little threads of sparkly purple tinsel here and there, not glaringly obvious but enough that when she moved her head her face seemed to be framed by sparkles. For the finishing touch, Ellie polished the diamonds in Rapunzel's wedding ring and slipped it back on the princess's finger.

Rapunzel did a little spin for the ladies-in-waiting, who gasped in delight. They fussed over the little details one last time, exclaiming how pretty she looked and how much fun she was going to have and _oh _how they wished they could go! She argued with Ellie on whether or not she could bring Pascal, her chameleon, to the ball, but eventually gave in and bade him goodbye as he curled up on his little cushion on her bedside table.

Then Ellie took her to the room that led to the ballroom just through the big doors where her parents and Eugene awaited her. Eugene looked more handsome than ever in his suit as he came over and looped his arm through hers.

"You're not nervous, are you?" he asked quietly.

"No…" she said uncertainly. "Should I be?"

"Well, you are going to have to mingle with the ambassadors and meet lots of new people and probably do a lot of dancing and you don't want to trip in those shoes or say the wrong thing or accidentally insult anybody or-"

"Eugene!" she interrupted. "Are you _trying _to make me nervous?"

He laughed. "Maybe… just so I'm not the only one…"

She stared at him. "_You're _nervous?"

"Of course I am," he whispered. "Most of those people know I used to be a thief, and every single one of them will be watching me and judging me because of it…"

She squeezed his arm comfortingly. "And I'm the princess who doesn't know how to be royalty because she's been locked up in a tower her whole life. We're in the same boat, Eugene. Hopefully we balance each other out."

Eugene offered her another smile. "I'm not sure that's how it works, but okay."

The doors to the ballroom began to open, and the sounds of music and talking flooded through. The voice of the herald could be clearly heard above all the others, announcing their arrival to the party.

"The royal family of Corona," he said in a loud, clear voice. "Queen Primrose, King Thomas, Princess Rapunzel, and Prince Eugene."

Rapunzel took a deep breath and clutched Eugene's arm a little tighter as she walked through the doors and began descending down the staircase right behind her parents. She plastered on a bright smile and looked out at the crowd of people. Each person was curtsying and bowing to her and her family, and every single face was trained on her. Everyone wanted a glimpse of the lost princess, after all. She concentrated on not tripping in her heels and falling down the stairs in a disgraceful heap. Somehow, she made it.

She and Eugene began to merge with the crowd as people began to turn their attention elsewhere and the next person was announced at the top of the staircase. She let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding and loosened her grip on Eugene's arm.

"Alright, Blondie," her husband said with a nervous smile. "Let's just try and relax and have some fun."

Things went surprisingly well as the ball went on. Each of the ambassadors came to speak to her, and her responses came easily. Compared to taming a pub full of vicious ruffians and thugs, this was nothing. All she had to do was say something sweet or mildly witty and she would instantly win them over. Sometimes one of them would ask to dance with her, but at the end of every dance she somehow found herself back in the familiar arms of Eugene.

After a while her feet began to ache, so she took off her heels and hid them behind a vase of flowers. No one could see her feet beneath her skirts anyway, and the cool marble floor was soothing.

After a time her father came to find her. "Enjoying yourself?" he asked her.

"Oh, yes, Father," she replied with a smile. "Everyone here is so nice and the music is wonderful!"

The King smiled. "I'm glad."

Suddenly the herald's voice rang across the room, announcing one of the stragglers that had shown up late. "King Douglas of the Kingdom of Sceadu!"

Her father's face paled, and Rapunzel spun around to look at the new arrival. King Douglas of Sceadu was thin but muscular, with a sharply defined face and graying hair and beard. Even though he was late he walked with the complete confidence of one who knew he could ask anyone to do anything and they would have to do it. His smile, though charming, struck Rapunzel as vaguely unpleasant.

"Douglas…" her father muttered. "What is he doing here?"

"What's wrong, Father?" she asked.

"I must go find your mother," the King said in way of response. He walked away, leaving Rapunzel baffled. She looked up at Eugene, who held the same grim expression as her father.

"You know what's going on, don't you?" she said to him.

"Do you follow politics, Blondie?" he asked.

"Not really…"

"Well, Douglas is King of Sceadu, which is a kingdom that Corona is on shaky terms with. Sceadu has always been jealous of Corona's prosperity, see, and a few years back there was a war between the two kingdoms. They signed a treaty, but it's an uneasy peace. As far as I know, Douglas wasn't even invited tonight."

"Then why is he here?" Rapunzel wondered.

"No idea," Eugene replied. "But we'll have to watch our step. The slightest thing might set him off."

Rapunzel looked over at the King of Sceadu again, who was striding towards her parents. They were smiling, but they were strained, tense smiles. "Let's avoid him," she decided. Eugene agreed.

Unfortunately, it was not long before Douglas came looking for them.

"There she is! The lost princess herself!"

Rapunzel turned from her conversation with another of the ambassadors to see Douglas standing just a few feet away. His voice was warm, but his smile was warning and his eyes glinted with a strange light.

"Oh," she said, smiling uncertainly. "Hello."

Douglas took a step closer. "Rapunzel, correct? And her husband, Prince Eugene Fitzherbert, former scourge of Corona's streets."

Eugene stiffened at her side. "The key word being 'former' there," he said curtly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear boy," Douglas said, not sounding sorry at all. "I didn't mean to offend you. I only came to talk." He turned his attention to Rapunzel. "I'm King Douglas of Sceadu, by the way. I don't believe we've met."

"No, but I've heard of you."

"I don't doubt it. But I'm not here to talk about myself; I came to talk about you. Adjusting well to the royal life, dear?"

"Fabulously," Rapunzel said.

"Good, good. I was worried that perhaps you might have still have kept some, ah, _unfortunate _habits." He glanced down, and Rapunzel realized that her bare toes were sticking out from beneath her skirt. Mortified, she pulled them back.

Eugene spoke up. "She is doing a wonderful job as princess, I assure you."

"I'm sure," Douglas smirked. "Of course, things might be different when she becomes Queen."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rapunzel asked a bit sharply.

"Only that there is quite a big difference between being a queen and being a princess. And seeing as you have been absent from your post as princess for quite some time, you might have some trouble as Queen. And, well, the kingdom requires a strong queen."

"My 'absence' was not my fault," she replied stiffly.

"I never said it was, my dear." Douglas replied. "Just… do be careful." With that he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

"He gives me a bad feeling," Eugene said once he was gone.

"Me too," Rapunzel agreed. "But let's just go dance and forget about him."

Soon the pair was waltzing about the dance floor, but as much as Rapunzel tried she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling her meeting with Douglas had given her. During one of her spins, she thought she saw a dark hooded figure lurking by a tapestry in a corner of the room, but when she next looked the figure was gone. The dance ended, and out of the corner of her eye she saw her father moving through the crowd toward her with a grave expression. She turned and began walking towards him, but suddenly a man's pain-filled scream filled the ballroom.

There were gasps as everyone turned to the source of the scream, and through the gaps between the people Rapunzel could make out the hunched form of King Douglas. The king was clutching at his chest, where a splotch of red was quickly growing. He coughed, and a few drops of blood splattered the marble floor. With a horrible groan he fell forward, revealing the hilt of a knife buried in his back.

For a moment there was only stunned silence. Then, a woman screamed. This caused many others to scream as well, and all of a sudden all the guests began stampeding towards the exit. For a moment she thought she saw the hooded figure again in the crowd, but when she blinked they were gone.

Rapunzel spotted Eugene a few feet away and reached out to him. He grabbed her hand, but the rush of people quickly separated them. Her wedding ring slipped off in Eugene's grasp, and it fell to the ground with a soft _clink _and began rolling away, kicked about by the panicked guests' running feet.

"No!" she cried, and began going after it, but a hand grabbed her wrist. She looked up and saw her father, his eyes wide and panicked.

"Rapunzel, you must come with me!" he said.

"But my ring-"

_"Now!"_

She reluctantly followed, and soon they had exited the ballroom. The screams muted and faded away as they ran down the empty hallways.

"Where are we going?" Rapunzel gasped.

The King glanced back at her. "There's no time to explain, but you must leave Corona."

"Leave Corona?" she exclaimed. "But what about Eugene? What about you and Mom?"

"This isn't about us, it's about you." He stopped running and took both of her hands in his. "Rapunzel, you are very special. You have been chosen to save us all. You may not see any of us for a long time, but trust me when I say that my blessing goes with you."

Rapunzel suddenly found it hard to breathe. Everything was happening so quickly, and she didn't understand what her father was talking about. The corset wasn't helping, either. "What- why- is this about King Douglas?"

Her father hesitated. "It might be. We do not know for sure."

"We…?"

Her father opened a door to an empty room, and when Rapunzel followed him in she stopped short and threw a hand up to muffle a scream. There was a huge, hairy _something _in the room. The creature was entirely covered in fur, and it towered over her. Its furry mustached face was kind, but it was still frightening.

"What is _that_?"

"This is Phil," her father answered calmly. "You must go with him."

Tears welled up in her emerald eyes. "I don't understand…"

Her father took her face in his hands and kissed her gently on the forehead. She buried her face in his chest and he murmured comfortingly in her hair.

"Everything will be explained soon, I promise. Everything will be okay. I love you, Rapunzel. No matter what happens, I love you." He pulled her back and looked straight into her eyes. "Now go."

She turned to the creature named Phil, who shook what looked like a snow globe in his hand and threw it to the ground. Instead of shattering, however, it burst into a swirling whirlpool of color and light. He gestured to the whirlpool, indicating that she should go through it.

She looked back at her father one more time, who nodded reassuringly. She hesitated, then took the tiara off her head and handed it to him. "I don't want to lose it."

Then she turned and stepped into the whirlpool. There was a horrible lurching sensation in her stomach, and she got the sensation that she was spinning very fast. Suddenly the spinning stopped, and she fell to solid ground. The dizziness was terrible, and combined with the breathlessness the corset caused she felt like she was going to pass out. She had just enough time to see green grass, blue sky, and an endless span of ocean before dark spots clouded her vision.

There was a distant yell and an echoing roar, and then nothing.

* * *

**Review and tell me what you think!**


	4. A Hiccup In the Plans

**The title says it all.**

* * *

Chapter 3: A Hiccup In the Plans

_"Everybody tries to be exactly the same. I think being an outsider is a good thing."_

-Ethan Embry

* * *

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the Hope and Heir to the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, was flying.

Not so long ago such a statement would have been impossible, laughed upon even. Not so long ago virtually _any_ sentence with Hiccup's name in it would have been laughed upon. Not so long ago Hiccup wouldn't have believed it himself.

And yet here he was, the blue of the sky above him and the blue of the sea below, going faster than any Viking had ever gone and higher than any had ever dared. Flying was something he would never, ever tire of. He loved the exhilaration of the wind whipping his reddish brown hair back from his freckled face, the speed that ripped the air from his lungs, the smell of fish and salt and pine that filled his nostrils.

In the air away from the gaze of the other Vikings all of Hiccup's titles were stripped away, whether they were the new titles, such as Dragon Trainer, or the old titles, like Useless. In the air he was humbled. He was just Hiccup. And there was something about that simplicity that he loved.

For a moment Hiccup leaned back with his arms spread wide, a whoop of joy escaping from his lips. Toothless, his faithful dragon, shifted beneath him to look back at him, and Hiccup saw in his pale green eyes that he was enjoying the flight too. Hiccup grinned.

"Wanna see if we can beat our own speed record, bud?" he asked.

Toothless roared in approval.

"Alright, then," Hiccup said.

He bent down low over Toothless' back, reducing drag as best he could. He shifted his metal foot on the pedal that controlled Toothless' prosthetic tail, and with a huge flap of his wings Toothless soared upward. There was a moment where they hovered, motionless, at the peak of their ascent. Then Toothless pointed his nose toward the ocean far below and tucked in his wings, and they plummeted toward the water at top speed.

Hiccup's fur vest and green shirt stuck straight out behind him in the wind, and he squinted his forest green eyes as they began to water. The ocean came closer, closer, closer… and then, at the very last second, Hiccup pressed down on the pedal and Toothless spread his wings. They shot across the ocean surface, leaving a huge spray of water in their wake.

"Yeeeah!" Hiccup yelled with a laugh, while Toothless leashed an exhilarated roar.

Soon Toothless slowed to a glide and gently rose so they were about twenty feet above the ocean. Hiccup straightened again and ran a hand through his hair, the reckless grin still on his face.

"That never gets old," he said.

Just then, Hiccup heard a low grumbling sound. He looked around for the source, but there was only Toothless looking back at him sheepishly.

"Toothless… was that your stomach? Are you hungry?"

Toothless nodded.

"I am too, now that you mention it. Let's stop somewhere and have some food."

Toothless banked to the right, heading toward the rocky cliffs of Berk that overlooked the sea. He landed on a rock spire that jutted from the ocean, and Hiccup jumped off and stretched his arms. Then he opened the saddlebag and took out several raw fish for Toothless and a sandwich for himself. He bit into it, leaning back against Toothless' side as the black dragon curled up around him. He gazed out over the ocean, watching the way it glittered in the sunlight. A pod of Scauldrons splashed in the distance, jumping in and out of the water in graceful arcs. Hiccup took a deep breath of the salty air.

"Do you ever wish we could just stay out here?" he asked. Toothless looked up from the fish he was devouring and glanced at Hiccup, but the boy continued to stare out over the water. "Just get away from all… all the insanity?"

Hiccup sighed and put his hands behind his head, turning his gaze from the sea to the sky. "No problems in the village, no attacks from wayward dragons, no Outcasts... just you and me and the sky, bud."

Toothless tilted his head. Hiccup was in a strange mood indeed. There was a moment of silence, and then Hiccup blinked and looked at Toothless with a small smile. He reached over and scratched him on the neck, just where he liked it.

"I guess that would be pretty boring, though, huh?"

Toothless snorted and went back to his fish. Hiccup held his sandwich between his teeth as he reached into his vest and took out his sketchbook and a piece of charcoal. He opened it to a page that had the beginnings of a map on it and began adding to it, drawing in new islands that he had noticed today and making notes of interest here and there about the dragon activity.

Today's flight with Toothless had not been just for fun. Although it had been as exciting as usual, the reason Hiccup was out today was for other purposes. Recently Hiccup had been struck by how blind the Vikings really were to the outside world. They knew their way around Berk's mainland just fine, and the nearby islands were familiar as well, seeing as fishing boats spent much of their time out there. Once you got more than a few miles out, though… well, that was uncharted territory. That was not really their fault, Hiccup supposed, since they had never had the means nor the incentive to explore outside their safe little bubble.

But Hiccup, as inquisitive as he was, was not content with the confines of Berk. So he often took Toothless out for hours at a time, flying further and further each time, mapping the unmapped and seeing the unseen. There was something undeniably thrilling about heading out into the unknown. His father, while he didn't exactly disapprove, often expressed the desire that he didn't go alone. Whenever Hiccup asked one of his friends to accompany him, however, he found that once they realized he wasn't planning on defeating any vicious dragons or completing some epic quest they would become disinterested.

Hiccup enjoyed being with his friends- especially after being without any for so long- but it frustrated him sometimes that they didn't really understand his interest. The thing about Vikings was that if the task at hand didn't involve fighting or battles or action, they had short attention spans.

Hiccup had once convinced Astrid to come with him on a mapping excursion, but he could tell she had only done it to make him happy. After about half an hour she had already begun to display signs of boredom, though she tried to hide it for his sake. He had told her she didn't have to come if she didn't want to, and she jumped on the chance even as she insisted that it was only because there were things she had to do back in the village and she really _would_ like to come with him, it was just that she was really busy that day…

Hiccup hadn't missed the relieved smile on her face as she had headed back to Berk, no doubt to practice her axe throwing or hammer fighting or something. Vikings, for the most part, preferred the physical over the intellectual, after all. That was just the way they were.

**_We_**_, _Hiccup corrected himself mentally. _That's just the way __**we**_ _are._

Hiccup wasn't sure what that said about him if he had to _remind_ himself he was a Viking, though.

With a sigh he closed the notebook and tucked it back in his vest. He stood up and Toothless, who had been basking lazily in the sun, opened his eyes.

"We should probably get back, bud," Hiccup said to him.

Toothless got to his feet and stretched before allowing Hiccup to mount him. Then the two jumped off the rock formation and glided through the air, heading back in the direction of Berk. They took their time, and it was about an hour before the familiar village came into view. Toothless descended in leisurely circles, and as Hiccup looked down he noticed that quite a few people were gathered in front of his house. Though they didn't look particularly angry, Hiccup knew from experience that gatherings in front of the chief's house were rarely a good thing.

Hiccup spotted his friends gathered in the main square. They were all watching the mob from afar and talking amongst themselves. Toothless landed in the square, and Hiccup went over to the group.

"Does anyone know why there is a mob in front of my house?" he asked.

"Where have _you _been?" Astrid asked. "The whole village is talking about it!"

"Talking about what?"

"Your dad found a girl up in the bluffs," Fishlegs said. "She's not from around here, but because of where she was found they don't think she was shipwrecked."

"Then how did she get here?" Hiccup questioned.

"Nobody knows," answered Ruffnut.

"Some are saying she is a goddess fallen from Asgard," Fishlegs whispered, gazing dramatically into the middle distance.

"I wish I could see her," Snotlout said wistfully.

"Why?" Tuffnut said to him. "So you can flirt with her?"

"Hey, I don't hit on every girl that just shows up on the island!" Snotlout protested.

Ruffnut violently coughed something that sounded a lot like, _Heather!_

"Oh yeah, and Bucket says he saw a monster up there, too," Tuffnut added.

"Well… this is _Bucket _we're talking about here," Hiccup pointed out.

"Your father has been looking for you all day," Astrid told him. "He looks pretty tightly wound up. If I were you I would go see what he wants before he snaps."

"That is an excellent idea," Hiccup said. He turned toward the direction of his house and began walking. "C'mon Toothless."

Hiccup went around the mob unnoticed to the back entrance of the house. He put his hand on the door and hesitated, wary of what he might find inside. He wondered why his dad was looking for him, and who the mysterious girl everyone was talking about was. Bracing himself, he pushed open the door and stepped in.

The first thing he saw was Stoick and Gobber. They were sitting on chairs and facing away from him, and they appeared to be talking to someone. Because of the bulk of the two men, however, Hiccup could not see _who _they were talking to. At the sound of his entrance, Stoick turned around and saw him. His face, which had been creased with worry and stress, suddenly washed over with relief.

"Hiccup!" he exclaimed, rising from his seat and striding towards him. "Where have you been? You can't just go flying off all day and not tell anyone where you're going!"

Hiccup gave his father a weird look. "That's what I always do, Dad."

"Well, you shouldn't! Especially not now!"

Hiccup was confused. His dad had never been strict about these things before. "What do you mean 'not now'? Is there something going on? Because people are saying-"

He was cut off by a feminine voice that exclaimed, "Is that a dragon?"

Hiccup looked past his father and saw the source of the voice sitting across from Gobber. It was a slender girl with tangled choppy brown hair. She was wearing a very strange, elaborate outfit, and her green eyes were wide at the sight of Toothless.

"Yes…" Hiccup answered her unsurely.

"He's amazing!" the girl exclaimed. She stood up and rushed over to Toothless, holding her hand out to touch him.

"Uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Hiccup warned her.

But she had already reached Toothless, who was caught by surprise and tried to scramble away. The girl was just about to touch him when he growled warningly, arching his back and spreading his wings. Hiccup took a step towards him, ready to stop him from torching the girl. Really, what did this girl think she was doing? You didn't just run up and try and pet a dragon! Everyone knew that.

The girl stopped with her hand outstretched and slowly lowered it. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said to Toothless soothingly. "It's okay, I won't hurt you." She took a slow step forward and Toothless growled again.

Everyone in the room froze, watching the dangerous game the girl was playing.

Still in her soft tone of voice, she said, "You're a beautiful dragon. Your scales are so pretty, and your tail! I love it."

Toothless glanced back at his tail, fanning out the black fin and admiring the red one.

"You probably don't get told that often enough," the girl was saying. "I bet you're a magnificent sight when you're flying!"

Toothless slowly withdrew his wings and straightened, his chest puffing out with pride. He let the girl come closer and didn't flinch away as she reached out again and gently touched his snout. Emboldened by his approval, the girl stepped closer and began scratching his neck. She smiled.

"You're just a big sweetie, aren't you?"

Toothless crooned and nuzzled her gently. Hiccup let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and walked over next to the girl.

"What's your name?" the girl asked his dragon.

"His name's Toothless," Hiccup said, laying a hand on said dragon's neck. "He's my dragon. I'm Hiccup."

He held out his hand and the girl shook it, offering him a bright smile. "I'm Rapunzel."

Hiccup smiled back. He was about to say more, but just then Gobber spoke up. "Well, now that we've got introductions out of the way, let's get back to business."

"Yes," Rapunzel said, letting go of Hiccup's hand and turning to Gobber. "I was promised an explanation."

"We already told you-" Stoick began.

"All you told me was that I'm in Berk, I can't go back to Corona, and your son Hiccup," she glanced at him, "was going to help me."

"Help you?" Hiccup repeated. "With what?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Rapunzel said.

"Perhaps you two should take a seat," Gobber said, gesturing to the empty seats with his hooked hand.

Rapunzel and Hiccup glanced at each other before walking over to the chairs and sitting down.

"Okay," Hiccup began. "So I'm assuming that you're the girl that everyone is talking about… and you're _not _a goddess fallen from Asgard?"

Rapunzel giggled. "A goddess? No, of course not! And I'm from Corona, not Asgard, whatever that is."

Hiccup looked to his father. "And, what about the monster Bucket says he saw?"

"That would be Phil," Stoick said. He turned and yelled behind him, "Phil! Come out here!"

"Phil" emerged from Stoick's room, a huge furry monster of a thing. He tucked something into a pouch that he carried and raised a hand in greeting. "Blorfugafa."

Hiccup stared at the creature for a second and then looked back at Stoick. "Okay. So Phil is a talking furry monster. No big deal," he deadpanned.

"Can someone tell me why I'm here?" Rapunzel asked.

Stoick shifted in his seat. "It is probably best for you to wait until you arrive at your… final destination before you get the full explanation. But I am allowed to tell you that you have been chosen to be part of an elite fighting force. Both of you."

Hiccup raised his eyebrows. "An elite fighting force? Against what?"

"Well, Alvin, for starters," Gobber interjected. "And Gothel too, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel looked startled. "How do you know about that?"

"We make a habit of staying informed," Gobber said.

"Look, the point is that things are changing for the worse and we need your help to fix it," Stoick said. "It's happening here, it's happening in Corona, it's happening everywhere."

"What do you want _us _to do about it?" Hiccup asked.

"You will meet your allies," Stoick said, "And then you will train, and then you will fight."

"I'd just like to say," Rapunzel said, "That I'm not a fighter, okay? I would just like to go home."

Gobber shook his head. "You don't understand, Rapunzel. You were _chosen. _This isn't something you can back out of."

Rapunzel put her head in her hands. Hiccup knew how she was feeling. He himself was feeling utterly bewildered and lost. It must have showed, because Toothless nudged him comfortingly. There was a moment of silence, and then Rapunzel spoke again.

"Can I at least change out of this dress?"

"I bet Astrid has some clothes you could borrow," Hiccup said, beginning to stand up.

"Hiccup," Stoick said, "I think it's best if this all remains secret for now, until we have a better idea of what we're up against and who we can trust."

Hiccup slowly sat back down. "So… what do we do now?"

Phil tapped Stoick on the shoulder and gave him a meaningful look. Stoick nodded and said, "Now you go with Phil."

"Wait- like, right now?" Hiccup said, startled.

"That's what I said. You don't need to bring anything, everything will be provided."

"What about Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

"You can bring him, of course." Stoick answered

"Shouldn't I tell my friends that I'm leaving? And Astrid-"

"We'll make up some excuse for you," Stoick said, standing up and ushering him and Rapunzel to the back room.

"Um… okay…" Hiccup said, following Rapunzel and Phil. Toothless trailed behind him.

"Hiccup," Stoick said. Hiccup looked back. "Make me proud."

The boy smiled, despite the turmoil inside him. "I will." _Even if I don't exactly know what I'm doing._

Stoick nodded and Hiccup turned back to Phil, who was reaching into his pouch and pulling out what looked like a glass sphere- some sort of egg, maybe? Rapunzel's face went pale.

"Oh no, not that again…"

Phil gave her a sympathetic look before throwing the sphere down where it exploded into a swirling mass. Rapunzel looked ill from the mere sight of it. Hiccup took hold of her arm supportively and she shot him a grateful look. Toothless came up on his other side, giving the whirlpool a distrustful glare. Then they all three went in at once. After a moment in which Hiccup felt as if he was caught in a hurricane, they emerged on the other side. Rapunzel stumbled, Hiccup's grasp the only thing keeping her upright.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," she muttered. She looked at Hiccup. "You know, you're taking all this surprisingly well."

Hiccup laughed. "Does it look that way? Good."

Within moments Phil joined them, and the portal returned to the glass sphere again, which the furry creature then put into his pouch that he still carried. Toothless took a step forward, sniffing the air, and Hiccup took the opportunity to look around at his surroundings.

They were on a trail in the middle of a forest. The trees were clearly very old, as they towered far above Hiccup's head. Behind him the path continued deeper into the forest, and in front of him it led out. For a second he thought he was in the woods of Berk, but upon second examination he realized that the trees were too dense, the shadows too deep. And the air… the air was _different _somehow. Wherever he was, it definitely wasn't anywhere on Berk. The thought terrified him and excited him at the same time.

"How did we get here?" he asked himself, letting go of Rapunzel and stepping forward. He looked back at the girl. "Do you know?"

Rapunzel shook her head. "I know about as much as you do. Probably less, actually." She hesitated. "Though, if I had to guess, I'd say… magic?"

"Magic?" Hiccup repeated. He didn't know anything about magic. Magic was a thing reserved for gods and spirits. Magic was beyond human reach, beyond human understanding.

"Yes," Rapunzel said. "I can't think of any other explanation, can you?"

Hiccup hesitated, but decided he had to agree.

Suddenly, a blue light flickered into being in the trees nearby. When Hiccup looked closer, he saw that it was a tiny creature with little wispy arms of light that beckoned him closer with a musical sighing sound. Mesmerized, he took a step towards the creature, slowly reaching out his hand to touch it. But before he could, Toothless leapt in front of him and forcibly shoved him back, growling menacingly at the little blue creature. The thing lingered for an instant, and then disappeared into thin air. Toothless didn't relax, still nudging Hiccup away.

"Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed. "Toothless, calm down! It's just… well, I don't know what it was, but it didn't look threatening…"

"Looks can be deceiving," Rapunzel pointed out.

She was right, of course, but Hiccup still wasn't entirely convinced. Taking out his sketchbook, he quickly drew a rough sketch of the creature before he forgot it. It was definitely something he wanted to know more about.

The warble of Phil's strange dialect caused him to look up. Phil was pointing to the path that led out of the forest, waving them forwards insistently. He started down the trail, and Hiccup, Toothless, and Rapunzel followed. They stayed silent, looking warily around at the surrounding forest. Soon they broke from the cover of the trees, and not far away Hiccup could see a fortress-like stone castle, the likes of which he had never seen before.

"Where _are _we?" he wondered, not for the first time. Phil said something, but Hiccup still didn't understand a word. He glanced at Rapunzel. "Do you think we're ever going to get a straight answer?"

Rapunzel shrugged. "I doubt it. And by the looks of things, it's just going to get worse."

Hiccup looked back at the castle and nodded. "Oh yeah. Definitely."

* * *

**So I have decided I'm going to do responses to reviews at the end of the chapter. I don't usually, but I will for this story.**

**Okanee: I'm glad you like the oneshots, and I hope this lives up to your expectations!**

**Guest 1: Yes, well, I figured Alvin would be a much better conversationalist than a giant dragon, haha :)**

**Guest 2: I'm not entirely sure what pairings I'll use, but they'll at least start out canon.**

**PencilofAwesomeness: Oh yeah, I have big plans for this. Glad you like the title, I knew I wanted it to be "How To" something.**

**Guest 3: Read and find out, lol.**

**Metal4k: Why, thank you.**

**catgirl3899: I don't know when it will be _finished, _but I'll try to update quickly, at least.**


	5. Insubordination

**I don't really trust myself when it comes to accents, so I'll be avoiding them for the most part except for little things here and there. That goes for North, Bunny and Merida. **

* * *

Chapter 4: Insubordination

_"A little rebellion is a good thing."_

-Thomas Jefferson

* * *

_Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. _The needle followed the never-ending pattern through the cloth, weaving threads of blue through the green fabric. Slowly and methodically the stitches appeared, forming a design that would not become clear until the end.

An end that Princess Merida of the DunBroch Clan felt would never come.

Embroidery. There was nothing she hated more. Sitting still for hours on end working on the same tedious project was like torture to her. It was one of those "princess duties" that irked her to no end. And though her mother was considerably more lax nowadays when it came to princess duties, there were some things that just couldn't be avoided, and embroidery was one of them.

"It's a good skill to have," her mum always said. "In case you ever do decide to get married."

Of course, marriage still held absolutely no interest in Merida's mind- not with the boys around here, anyway. They were nice enough; some of them were actually quite sweet. But they were always so focused on proving to her who was the biggest and the brawniest and the handsomest. That was all well and good, but Merida found herself wishing for someone with a bit more substance.

Merida sighed and glanced out the window. It was a beautiful day; the sky was blue with puffy white clouds and the tall grass rippled in the warm summer breeze. The breeze drifted through the window, carrying with it the smell of wildflowers. Oh, how she wished she could be out there right now! _Anything_ was better than sitting here doing boring old embroidery. On the bright side, her father had promised he would take her out to practice archery after supper. She only had to make it until then.

Queen Elinor sat across from her, smiling slightly and humming while she worked on her own embroidery, which was coming along considerably faster than her daughter's. She looked up at Merida's wistful sigh.

"Only two more hours, dear," she said in what was meant to be a reassuring voice.

Merida only groaned, leaning back in her chair and staring up at the ceiling in boredom. "I don't get it, mum. How can you enjoy this?"

"It's calming," she answered. "It helps me sort out my mind and think things through."

Merida shook her head in disbelief.

Just then, the door to the room opened. Maudie, the triplets' nursemaid, was standing there. "Queen Elinor?" she said. The queen looked up. "King Fergus would like to speak with you."

Elinor nodded and stood up, setting her embroidery aside. Gracefully she walked out of the room, and as she was passing Maudie, she said, "Where are the triplets, Maudie?"

Maudie's face reddened. "Ah. Yes. Well, that's the question we're all asking, eh, my lady?"

Merida chuckled to herself as the two left, Elinor calling over her shoulder, "Carry on without me, Merida!"

The door closed, and Merida snorted. "Yeah. Like _that's _going to happen."

She jumped up from her chair, carelessly tossing her embroidery on the bed as she crouched down and pulled out her bow and arrow from underneath it. She smiled and went to the door, slipping out quietly and running down the hall in the opposite direction her mum and Maudie had gone. She slid down the banister of the stairs in the Great Hall and sped out the main doors of the castle.

Two whole hours of embroidery avoided, and no one even knew she was out! The possibilities were endless. Merida headed over to the stables and saddled up her horse, Angus. She took him out on the route where she and Mum usually went riding together. As she went, she threw her head back and let her wild mane of fiery red hair stream out behind her. She laughed, the sun sparkling in her bright blue eyes, her dark green dress fluttering in the wind.

"Where to, Angus?" she asked her horse.

Angus whinnied as if in reply and shook his head in the direction of the fields. Merida had been going toward the forest, but at his suggestion she turned the reigns and headed that way instead. Angus ran full speed, and the tall grass whipped at her legs as she rode. Gradually Angus slowed, eventually coming to a stop amid a bed of wildflowers on a cliff overlooking an even larger field below. He shook his mane contentedly and bent down to graze.

Merida slid off her horse and fell on her back into the flowers with a blissful sigh. She sprawled out amongst the sweet-smelling blooms and closed her eyes, basking in the sunlight. The field was remarkably quiet; all she could hear was the wind rustling the grass, Angus's breathing, and the occasional song of a bird. It was very peaceful.

_I could fall asleep out here, _she thought. She seriously considered it, too, but seeing as she had to be back within a couple hours she decided not to. Instead, she sat up and picked a few long blades of grass. She began weaving them together, in and out and around in a complex weave. It was quite a bit like sewing, and Merida was struck by the thought that embroidery would be much more enjoyable if it was done outside, sitting in the flowers like she was right now.

She finished the grass weaving, and admired the Celtic knot she had created. Nodding in satisfaction, she put it in Angus's saddle bag as a token of good luck. Then she lay back down in the flowers, the sun warm on her face. She yawned, a feeling of sleepiness taking her over. Maybe she would take a nap after all, just a quick one. She had plenty of time, and it really was such a nice day…

When she opened her eyes again everything was much darker. The sky was streaked with sunset colors and the sun itself hovered just above the horizon. She gasped, sitting bolt upright as she realized how long she had slept. Angus lay a few yards away, his chest moving steadily to his breathing as he dozed.

"Angus!" she cried. The horse lifted his head groggily. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Angus snorted indignantly as she ran over to him and tried to haul him up to his feet. He stood and shook grass out of his mane as Merida quickly mounted him. With a snap of the reigns they set off back across the field, heading towards the castle.

As they went, Merida glanced at the sky again, trying to gauge the time. Now that she was fully awake and thinking clearly, she realized that perhaps it was not as late as she thought. Yes- it might not have even been two hours yet, but she would be cutting it close. If she managed to return to her room before her mother came looking for her, she might not even get into trouble.

Angus galloped through the front gate of the castle grounds and over to the stables. Merida put him in his stall, gave him an apple and a quick hug, and ran to the back entrance of the castle where she was least likely to be noticed. Silently she snuck upstairs towards her room, but just as she was reaching the hall where it was located she heard footsteps approaching and her parents' voices. Quickly she ducked into the nearest doorway as they passed.

"… can't just throw her into this with no warning!" her mother was saying.

"We don't have a choice," her father, King Fergus, said. "I did not expect this so soon, but we have to do what have to do. You go get her; I will deal with the others…"

Their voices faded away, but Merida hesitated. Who was the 'her' they were speaking of? And who were 'the others'? Deciding she would figure it out later, she hurried along the length of the hall and slipped into her room, quickly picking up her embroidery and trying to look natural- or as natural as possible with her hair a mess and her bow lying not-so-inconspicuously on the bed behind her.

Not a second later, the door opened and Queen Elinor entered. "Merida!" she said, sounding surprised. "You're still here!"

Merida felt the tips of her ears redden. Perhaps her mother knew her better than she thought. "Of course I'm still here, mum," she said with an innocent smile. "Why would you ever think otherwise?"

"No matter, no matter," she said, taking her by the arm and guiding her up from her seat towards the door. "Come on then, we have business to attend to." Ignoring her daughter's spluttered protests and questions, she began fussing over her. "I wish we had had more notice, you could have put on something nicer- no, no, not _nicer _maybe, but certainly more functional, and we could have done something with your hair- speaking of which, why is there grass in your hair? Oh well, there's nothing we can do now, and where is your bow? You should take that with you."

Merida yanked her arm out of her mother's strong grasp and gaped at her. "You _want _me to take my bow with me? Wait- where am I going, exactly?"

Elinor chose to ignore the latter question. "Oh, I'll admit I never quite liked the thing, but you might need it." She picked up the bow and quiver of arrows from the bed and shoved them into Merida's hands, forcibly piloting her out the door again. "Now come along, they'll be waiting…"

"I can walk fine on my own, Mum," Merida said. She frowned. Her mother was acting quite flustered and out of character; she was usually so poised and graceful. "Are you alright? Where are we going? Who's waiting for us?"

"Not for _us, _darling, for _you_."

"Me?"

"Yes, yes." They swept down the stairs and into the Great Hall, Elinor directing Merida to her throne. Merida, bewildered, sat down, looking towards the main doors as they slowly began to open.

"Now, Merida, whatever happens in the next few minutes, don't be alarmed. Just take it calmly, like a princess would."

Merida was slightly annoyed that her mother was using the "like a princess" method again, but was able to ignore the feeling in favor of the trepidation that swept through her as the doors kept opening. Her father was revealed to be the one pushing open the doors, and when he stepped aside he revealed the strangest entourage Merida had ever seen.

The first to enter the Great Hall was a girl that Merida had never seen, dressed in what had probably once been a very nice dress, but was now torn and dirty. She was petite and rather pretty, but her features were lined with weariness, confusion, and sadness.

Behind her followed a boy that reminded Merida just the slightest bit of Wee Dingwall, in that he was much smaller than most boys and a tad eccentric looking- mainly because in place of his left leg there was a metal prosthetic. His eyes, however, were much sharper and cleverer than Dingwall's vacant expression. He, too, looked confused, but seemed to Merida to be in much better shape than the girl.

At his side, there was a large, black, lizard-like creature that walked with caution and looked around at everything warily. It took a second, but after staring at the animal for a moment Merida realized that she had seen something quite like it before, in the books that told of legends and far off lands. It was a dragon.

And yet, before Merida could fully process the fact that there was a _dragon _in the Great Hall, an even stranger beast brought up the rear of the procession. For a split second she thought it was a bear- but no, it was too humanoid for that. She had no idea _what _it was, but definitely not a bear.

She looked to her mother and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could her mother held up a hand.

"Take it in stride, Merida," she said.

Merida closed her mouth and looked back at the group that had just entered. The doors closed with an echoing _boom_, and for a moment everything was silent.

Then her father cleared his throat. "Merida, I'd like to introduce you to… um…" he glanced at them. "What did you say your names were, again?"

The boy stepped forward. "My name's Hiccup," he said. Merida rose from her throne and walked to him, shaking his outstretched hand.

"And mine's Rapunzel," the brunette girl said when Merida turned to her. Her voice was rather weak sounding and her handshake was as well.

Merida gave her a concerned look. "You don't look so good, lass."

Rapunzel chuckled quietly. "Oh, I know." She hesitated, then said, "I, um, I don't suppose you have any food?"

Merida glanced back at her mother, who nodded. "Of course. Let us go to the dining room and discuss things over supper."

King Fergus led the way, while Merida walked between Rapunzel and the boy named Hiccup.

"This is Toothless, by the way," Hiccup said, laying a hand on the head of the dragon that walked by his side. He jerked a thumb at the furry creature that followed them. "And I've been told he's called Phil."

Merida nodded, inwardly marveling at the calm exterior she was managing to uphold. "What brings you to DunBroch?" she asked.

"Um… we don't know," Hiccup answered. "We were hoping you did."

Merida shook her head as they arrived at the dining room, where the long table in the center of the room had been laid out with a bounty of food. Everyone took a seat, and Phil immediately began eating a plateful of tarts; apparently the creature had a sweet tooth. Toothless pulled a tray of smoked fish to the edge of the table and went to work on those, while Rapunzel cut a sausage into tiny pieces and slowly ate them one by one. Everyone else, however, sat before empty plates.

"Alright," Merida said, addressing the table in general. "What is all this about?"

Phil paused in his eating and looked up, speaking a long thread of garbled syllables that Merida supposed must have been words but which she could not even begin to decipher. He went on for nearly five minutes, and at the end of his speech gave a concluding nod, as if he was confident he had just supplied them all with a satisfactory answer.

There was a moment of silence, then Queen Elinor said, "What Phil means to say is that you are being recruited, Merida."

Fergus gave his wife a surprised look."You speak Yetish?"

Elinor smiled. "I understand it, but it is much harder to speak it."

"Yetish?" Merida repeated.

"Yes, the language of Yetis," Fergus said, gesturing towards Phil.

"Wait, wait, what do you mean 'recruited'?"Merida demanded.

"My dad said something like that," Hiccup interjected. "Something about being part of a fighting team, right?" This last part was directed towards Rapunzel.

Merida noticed that Rapunzel's face was looking rather flushed, and she was fanning herself with her hand. "Yes, I think you're right." She paused. "It's really stuffy in here, isn't it?"

Merida gave Rapunzel a concerned glance. The room wasn't stuffy at all; on the contrary, it was cool and a little drafty. After scrutinizing the other girl for a moment, her eyes widened in realization. She stood up and strode to the other side, picking up a knife from the table and slashing it through the back of Rapunzel's dress.

"Merida!" Elinor gasped.

Rapunzel gasped too, but for another reason: the knife cut right through the strings of the corset, which loosened and allowed her the first real breath of air she had had ever since she had put the thing on.

"Corsets," Merida said disdainfully. "They're vile things, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," Rapunzel agreed, giving her a grateful smile.

Merida returned it and looked up, seeing everyone else half rising from their seats with shocked expressions on their faces.

"What?" she asked. "You didn't think I was going to _hurt _her, did you?"

"You never know with you," Fergus said, but gave his daughter a wink as he sat back down.

Merida returned to her seat as Rapunzel shifted to keep her dress from falling off her shoulders. "A fighting team, hm? Sounds interesting. But I thought that there was a peace treaty between the clans?"

"There is," Elinor assured her. "But you won't be fighting here."

Merida frowned. "Not… here? But where, then?"

"Somewhere very far away… and yet not far away at all." Fergus said cryptically. "Phil will take you there, you and Rapunzel and Hiccup."

"Hang on," Merida protested, taken aback by the sudden announcement. "I can't just leave DunBroch for some faraway land! I have a life _here_…"

"Merida, please don't make this difficult," Elinor pleaded. "Trust me, it's for the best."

Merida felt her stubborn instinct rising. "But… I don't want to go…"

Rapunzel sighed. "Apparently, you don't have a choice."

Merida stood up quickly, pushing her chair back and slowly backing away. "You can't make me…"

Elinor gave her a stern glare, rising from her seat. "_Merida_…"

But Merida didn't listen, turning and running out into the corridors. She didn't get very far, however. She glanced back to see if anyone was following her, and when she turned back around she ran into a solid wall of fur. She rebounded off and fell to the floor, looking up to see Phil gazing down at her with a sack in his hand.

"Fwasfet defergaf," he said, and from his apologetic expression Merida gathered he probably meant something close to, _I'm really sorry about this._

She scrambled to her feet, but before she could take off again Phil took hold of her arm and threw her in the sack. She yelled and demanded to be released, and in the scratchy darkness of the sack she felt herself being thrown and then got the sensation of spinning so fast she felt rather nauseous. She shut her mouth, trying hard not to be sick. Suddenly, she hit a hard floor and spilled out of the bag onto her back, staring straight up into a very unfamiliar face.

A boy with strange white hair and the bluest eyes she had ever seen looked down on her, his lips twitching into a half mocking, half sympathetic smile.

"The sack, huh?" he said.

* * *

**Okanee: Don't you worry, I have plans for every single one of them! *evil laugh***

**Guest: Hope I didn't disappoint.**

**So, what do you think so far? Review!**


	6. All Together Now

**Ohmygosh you guys this chapter took forever to get out. I barely have time for writing nowadays, my life is literally sleep, school, soccer, homework, repeat. On the bright side, it's extra long!**

* * *

Chapter 5: All Together Now

_"We are all in the same boat, in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty."_

- G.K. Chesterton

* * *

Jack stepped back as the girl with the hair like fire scrambled to her feet, backpedaling away from him and looking around with wild eyes. When she caught sight of the other Guardians standing nearby, her mouth dropped open. That was understandable, of course. Jack supposed they must have made quite a strange sight to someone who wasn't accustomed to them: a feathered fairy, a six feet tall rabbit, a short floating golden man, a huge bearded old man, and a skinny teenager with white hair.

"What in the name of… who are you?" she demanded in a strong Scottish accent.

Before any of them could answer, Phil emerged from the portal the girl had just come through, two others in tow. There was another girl with close cut brown hair and a fancy purple dress nearly in shreds, and a boy on the small side with a metal leg. Jack scrutinized them all carefully. North had been filling him in on who he would be fighting alongside while Phil had gone to get the others, and Jack was curious to meet his new team.

That boy must be Hiccup, the Viking from the Isle of Berk. Jack was surprised; when North had said "son of the chief", he had expected someone a bit more impressive. He wasn't very old, probably only about fifteen years. But then, he _was _a Viking, and North had informed him that Vikings were fierce fighters. Perhaps Hiccup was much stronger than he looked. The metal leg would be something of a disadvantage, though…

From the accent, Jack gathered that the red-headed girl was Merida, from the DunBroch Clan. If Phil had resorted to using the infamous sack with her, then that meant she was a fighter, which was good. Yet it also meant she was rebellious and resistant to authority, which could be a problem. Not that Jack considered himself an authority, but he needed to be able to rely on his team in battle. She had a bow slung over her shoulder, and if she could use it then that would be very helpful indeed.

Which meant the girl in the tattered dress must be Rapunzel, the Princess of Corona. She didn't look like much of a warrior, but then North _had_ said she specialized more in healing. He had also said she didn't have much experience when it came to fighting, but he had been assured that it would be worth the extra training.

It was such a strange group, a ragtag band of seemingly random teenagers. They weren't the strongest and they definitely weren't the biggest from each of their dimensions. They probably weren't even the best. Jack couldn't help but wonder what on earth Manny had been thinking, choosing these people.

Then he realized that this was probably exactly how the other Guardians had felt when he had been chosen to become one of them, and he resolved to keep an open mind. Manny always had reasons for the things he did, Jack knew, even if they weren't always clear. He was never in much of a hurry to explain, either. You could wait a lifetime and still never get your answer.

Jack expected the portal to close once the trio came through, but it wasn't done yet. Directly behind Hiccup followed a big black winged thing- a dragon. Instinctively Jack backed away in surprise at the sight of the creature. He had heard of dragons before, of course. Jamie's book of mythological creatures even had a whole chapter about them. He had never thought they were real, though- and they weren't, not in this dimension, anyway. He supposed he should have expected weird things to happen when he mingled with other dimensions, but no one had said anything about _dragons_.

He shot North a look, but the man was too busy trying to stop Merida from attacking Phil to notice.

"… and you have no business kidnapping me, so if you know what's good for you you'll take me back right now!" the redhead was saying- well, shouting, really- to the yeti.

"Princess, calm down!" North said. "You are not being kidnapped. Why would you think that?"

"Well, being tossed in a sack without being told where you're going and why tends to give you that idea," Jack put in. "You really need to work on your people skills, North."

Merida whirled around from shouting down a mildly frightened looking Phil to face them. "I'll calm down when someone tells me what's going on and why I'm here and…" her voice trailed off as she caught full view of the room. She turned in a slow circle, taking in the yetis and the elves wandering about and the windows providing a view of the Arctic outside and the slowly revolving globe twinkling with glowing lights. "And… where is here?"

"Another dimension, I'm guessing," Hiccup said.

"You are right. Welcome to the North Pole!" North exclaimed as he stepped forward with a sweeping gesture of his arms. "The main base of operations for the MDA!"

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the room stared at him in confusion. Then Tooth spoke the question on everybody's minds.

"The what now?"

"The MDA," North repeated. "Stands for Multi-Dimensional Alliance."

"You just made that up just now, didn't you?" Jack said.

"Yes," North replied, unashamed.

"Sounds official," Bunny mused. "I like it."

Sandy nodded in agreement with Bunny.

"Good," North said. "Then we will make it official. Someone should alert the other dimensional leaders. You there, get on that!" He pointed at one of the yetis, and he promptly left the room to carry out his orders.

"I feel like we've gotten slightly off topic here," Rapunzel spoke up for the first time. Everyone turned to her. "You were saying? About the North Pole?"

"Ah, yes, right. Welcome to the North Pole!" North proclaimed again.

"Yeah, we got that much," Hiccup said. "Who are you, exactly?"

"We are the Guardians," North answered. "I am known by many names, but you can call me North."

Bunny stepped forward. "My name's Bunnymund, just Bunny for short, though."

Merida stared at him. "You're a giant rabbit," she stated bluntly.

Jack choked back a laugh at her directness.

"Well, yes," Bunny said, sounding a bit disgruntled. "That would be the reason for the name."

Tooth flew forward in a flurry of rainbow feathers. "I'm the Tooth Fairy- well, my full name is Toothiana, but most mortals don't know that and my friends just call me Tooth, or sometimes Toothy- that's mostly North, though- so I guess you can just call me Tooth, or-"

"Tooth," North said, stopping what was fast becoming a ramble- much to the relief of the Hiccup, Rapunzel, and Merida, who were having a hard time keeping up with her lightning fast talking speed.

Tooth cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Right." She moved to the side as Sandy floated forward with a cheery wave. "This is the Sandman, but we all just call him Sandy."

Jack took a step to the front. "And I'm Jack. Jack Frost."

The three others made introductions, and Jack found out that the dragon's name was Toothless.

"Why is he called that?" Tooth inquired, visibly resisting the urge to fly forward and pry open the dragon's mouth. "Does he not have teeth?"

"Sometimes," Hiccup said with a shrug.

Jack looked at Toothless distastefully. "Did you really have to bring a _dragon_ with you?"

Hiccup gave Jack a quick appraising look. "Yes," he said, a note of hostility in his voice. "Why? Is there something _wrong _with dragons?"

"What, you mean apart from the fact that they go around eating people and burning things down and hoarding fortunes of treasure?" Jack didn't know if any of that was actually true, but that was what all the stories about dragons said.

"Have you ever actually met one?" Hiccup retorted.

"No, I try and stay _away _from vicious, fire-breathing animals, thanks."

"Maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge them, then."

"And maybe _you_ shouldn't be so quick to trust them."

Toothless growled, and Jack's hand tightened around his staff as he tensed, ready for an attack.

"Jack," Tooth interrupted, "Let's just let it go, alright? Hiccup- _and _Toothless- are here as guests." She lowered her voice. "And you don't want to get off on the wrong foot; he _is _going to be part of the team."

Jack hesitated, but then he relaxed and nodded. "Sorry," he said to Hiccup shortly.

Hiccup nodded stiffly in acceptance of the apology.

"So…" Merida said after an awkward pause. "You didn't answer my other question. What am I- what are we- doing here?"

"Ah, now that is where it gets interesting," North said. "And you will get your answer."

"The actual full explanation?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes," North replied.

"Well, it's about time."

North chuckled. "You might want to sit down."

Several yetis brought over chairs, but no one sat. "We're good, thanks," Hiccup said.

North shrugged. "Fine. But you may very well change your mind."

North began explaining the situation, but Jack, having heard it all before, began zoning out. He glanced over at Toothless, who was giving him a distrustful glare. He stared right back, refusing to back down. Toothless showed no signs of blinking, but Jack was determined not to break eye contact. He was going to win this staring contest even if it dried his eyes out.

Soon North's voice began fading into a monotonous drone in the background, which was strange, seeing as how North's voice was usually so expressive and commanding. In fact, everything besides Toothless's big green eyes faded into drab shades of gray, indistinct shapes, and faint murmurs of noise. He felt his limbs slacken and he began swaying slightly on his feet, getting a strange, dizzying sensation of floating. His mind was beginning to go fuzzy just as Hiccup's voice, as distant as if he was at the end of a long tunnel, broke through the haze.

"Oh, that's not a good idea…"

Toothless finally blinked, but Jack seemed to be incapable of feeling a sense of victory. He vaguely became aware of Hiccup snapping his fingers in front of his face, and he slowly registered the words he was saying.

"… and dragon's eyes are hypnotic if you stare into them for too long, you know. Found that out the hard way when Toothless and I had a staring contest over the last fish. I'm pretty sure it's a hunting mechanism, they use it to keep their prey from running or from trying to put up a fight. They don't usually use it on people, though… Cut it out, Toothless. "

Jack blinked repeatedly and shook his head, trying to clear his vision and disperse the fog in his mind. The rest of the room came into focus, and he realized that the others had just finished getting their explanation. Rapunzel looked shell-shocked, Merida looked alarmed, and Hiccup looked grim. The other Guardians gave them wary looks, as if half-expecting them to blow up in their faces.

"So… you're saying that Gothel is still alive?" Rapunzel asked. "How is that possible? I saw her age into dust right before my eyes!"

"No, you saw her fall, and you saw a pile of dust when she landed," Bunny corrected. "You just assumed she was dead. A lot can happen in the time it takes to fall, especially if she knew magic. Which she did."

Rapunzel relented and sat down heavily into her chair, just as North had predicted.

"And Mor'du?" Merida inquired. "He's still alive too? Even though he was crushed?"

"His soul is still very much alive," North explained. "And still vengeful."

"So you're saying," Hiccup said, "That this Pitch guy you were talking about is working with them- and with Alvin- to… to take over all the dimensions? And we're supposed to stop them?"

"That's exactly what we're saying," Tooth answered him.

"Why us?" Merida asked. "Why not actual warriors?"

"Because Man in Moon chose you," North said. "And whatever Manny says, we do."

"The … the _moon _chose us…?" Merida laughed. "You can't be serious!"

"In Corona, we believe that the sun brings prosperity and wealth to the land," Rapunzel said, "And that its magic can heal any condition. In fact, I _know _it's true. If the sun can do things like that… then why not the moon?"

Merida looked around with a half-smile on her face, clearly expecting someone to say, _Just kidding! _When she was met only with a somber silence and serious expressions on the Guardians' faces, the smile faded and she, too, sank back in her chair.

"This is so strange," she muttered.

"Why did the… er, the moon choose us?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, that's what we're all wondering, isn't it?" Bunny replied.

"I don't know why I'm here," Rapunzel said. "I don't fight. The only form of defense I've used is a frying pan, and I only ever used that a couple of times." The corners of her mouth twitched at these words. "I used to be able to heal, but I can't even do that anymore."

A moonbeam shone through a skylight onto Rapunzel's form, but she didn't notice. She stood up, beginning to pace back and forth agitatedly as she continued to speak.

"If I still had my long hair then I could help, but I don't, and it's not coming back."

Something began to shimmer into existence behind Rapunzel. When he saw what it was, Jack's eyes widened. "Rapunzel," he said.

"So really, we would all be better off if I went back home and left the fighting to someone more experienced."

The moonbeam intensified for a moment before fading away, its mission completed. "Rapunzel," Jack repeated, while the others only gaped.

She paid him no mind. "I would love to help, really I would. No one wants to be rid of Gothel more than me. But the fact remains that I can't do anything useful, so-"

"Rapunzel!" Jack said again, more forcefully this time.

"What?" she said, turning to him.

Jack motioned for her to turn around. She did so, and when she saw what was behind her she froze in surprise. Yards and yards of endless blonde hair streamed out behind her, covering the floor with the golden tresses.

"Oh," Rapunzel gasped, her eyes going impossibly huge. Her hands flew up to her head, where she felt the fair locks coming from her scalp instead of the short brown cut she had had only moments earlier. "Oh!" she said again.

She ran her fingers through her hair and slowly sat down again. "How... how is that possible?"

"Manny has done the impossible before," Tooth said in wonder.

There was a moment of silence. "Well…" Rapunzel said. "That changes things."

"Indeed," North agreed.

A yeti came over and tapped him on the shoulder, whispering something in his ear. North nodded.

"We will speak more tomorrow, when your training begins," he said. "Now you must rest. The others will show you to your rooms." Then he turned and left the room, following the yeti.

Bunny walked past Hiccup and motioned for him to follow. "C'mon, mate," he said.

Sandy went over to Merida and led her away, and Tooth flew over to Rapunzel and helped her gather up her endless hair in her arms.

"This is a bit of a hassle, isn't it?" she said. Then, without giving her a chance to answer, said, "Your dress looks ruined- we should get you something new to wear right away. I bet we can find something in your style. You know, you look good in purple…"

Her energetic voice faded away as she and Rapunzel exited the room, leaving Jack the only one left in the globe room. He glanced up through the skylight at the moon shining in the black sky outside.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said quietly.

* * *

Rapunzel sat silently on the four-poster bed, her gold hair reflecting the glow of the orbs of light that were contained in lanterns around the room. She fingered the fabric of her new outfit, a simple light purple sundress. Tooth told her that it was just for tonight, that she would get something more suitable for training tomorrow- but what Rapunzel really wanted was her old dress, the one that was stained with grass and fell too short and was wrinkled and worn from constant wear. She wanted the one she had made for herself years ago and that had become her favorite and that smelled like home.

She looked out the window that took up most of the far wall, but there wasn't much to see. All there was outside was an endless bleak landscape of snow and ice and mountains; there was nothing green or alive. The sky was dark as midnight, illuminated only by the bright moon. Rapunzel had learned, after asking Tooth when the sun would rise, that the North Pole did not get any sunrises in the winter, only perpetual night. She had said that when spring came things would start to lighten, but Rapunzel had to wonder what sort of place this was that it didn't even get sunlight for a large part of the year. It was unimaginable.

Speaking of the sun…

Rapunzel looked down at her hair, once again running her fingers through the strands to confirm that it was really there. She wasn't sure how she felt about it; she was happy, she supposed, to be able to heal people again, but at the same time it represented a part of her life that she would have liked to have left behind. The part that she had thought was over, but was coming back around to torment her. The cutting of her hair had started a new chapter in her life, but being granted it back meant the beginning of yet another one.

Rapunzel cleared her throat and opened her mouth. She hesitated, but after a second took a breath and began to sing.

_Flower, gleam and glow_

_Let your power shine_

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_What once was mine…_

Starting at the roots, the familiar glow lit up her hair, brightening her face and casting light into even the shadowy corners of the room. She watched as it spread through her locks like a waterfall, only fading when her voice trailed away.

So it really was back then. In that case, it didn't matter whether she was happy about it or not. She was a part of this cross-dimensional madness now.

She sighed and began the long task of braiding her hair. It was only then that she noticed something different; the little short brown piece of hair was gone- but something else had replaced it. A streak of color different from the rest of the blonde went through the whole length, barely noticeable unless you looked closely. It was a silvery white, the color of moonlight.

At the sound of her door opening she looked up from inspecting the silver streak and glanced over her shoulder. A head of fiery red hair peeked around the doorframe, and Merida walked in.

"Hi," she said, closing the door gently behind her.

"Hello," Rapunzel replied warily, watching as Merida walked around to sit beside her on the bed.

"Want an apple?" the other girl asked, holding out the fruit.

"No, I'm alright," Rapunzel declined, beginning to braid her hair again.

Merida shrugged. "Suit yourself." She pulled out a small knife and began to cut the apple into slices.

"Do you… do you need something?" Rapunzel asked as inoffensively as she could.

"Me? No." Merida popped a piece of apple in her mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed before continuing. "But you do."

"I do?" Rapunzel said in surprise.

"Yes. You, lassie, need a friend."

Rapunzel involuntarily raised her eyebrows.

"And I don't mean those bickering boys out there," Merida continued. "I mean another girl to be around. To talk to. To trust."

"And it works both ways, I suppose?" Rapunzel asked.

"Well…" Merida said. "That _is_ sort of what I was thinking, actually…"

Rapunzel smiled. "I think that would be great, Merida."

Merida returned the smile, and then looked down at the blonde hair that covered the floor. "You, uh, you have some impressive hair there. Must be pretty hard to manage."

"You have no idea."

"Good luck with it. I've long since given up on mine." She flicked a piece of her red curls resignedly.

Rapunzel reached out and touched her hair gently. "It's not so bad. I bet I could tame it."

Merida sighed. "Yes, well, you'd be the first."

They laughed a little at that, and Rapunzel felt the weight on her shoulders lessen just a bit.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

Hiccup thought the North Pole was one of the most amazing places he had ever been in.

While following Bunny to his room, he hadn't been able to stop himself from staring around at everything. There were things here he had never seen before, things that he didn't even know what they were. There had been nothing like this back in Berk. It had his fingers instinctively twitching towards his notebook, the inventor in him wanting to write everything down so he could recreate it all later.

Once, he walked past an empty room that seemed like it was some sort of unused workshop. It was quiet and dusty, but it had lots of space and lots of tools. Hiccup saw it as a good place to work on things, to replace his desk at home littered with drawings and ideas. Mentally he remembered the path to it, which was a bit of a challenge throughout all of the chaos of the North Pole.

Now he was laying on his back in the big bed in his room, trying and failing to fall asleep. The bed was much softer than he was used to- the Vikings viewed luxury as a bad thing, something that would make you lazy and weak. This bed was just _too _comfortable for Hiccup.

He wasn't even tired, even though it seemed like ages ago that he had gone with Toothless on that exploration flight, knowing nothing of other dimensions or giant rabbits or dark spirits that wanted to take over the multiverse. His inner clock must have been messed up, seeing as he had gone from midday in Berk to evening in DunBroch to what seemed like midnight here at the North Pole.

With a resigned sigh he sat up and got out of the bed. Maybe he would go check out that workroom now, and make some calibrations on Toothless's tail. He had nothing else to do, after all.

Toothless looked up from his spot on the ground, the charred remains of the cushioned bed he had been given laying in shreds around him- luxury wasn't his thing, either. He got up and followed Hiccup as he slipped out the door, even as the boy protested that he would be too noticeable. He was unable to stop him, however, and so just gave up. He couldn't blame Toothless for not wanting to be alone in this strange new place, after all.

Surprisingly, they were not noticed as they made their way through the Pole. The yetis all seemed to be too caught up in their work to pay any attention. Soon, they arrived at the workroom. Hiccup nudged the already ajar door open a little wider, but stopped when he saw there was already someone in the darkened room.

Jack was silhouetted against the window, his silvery hair glinting in the moonlight. He was somehow, impossibly, sitting perfectly balanced on top of the staff that he carried with him. He must have heard Hiccup arrive, for he turned his head slightly to see him standing there.

"Oh. It's you," he said.

Hiccup stepped into the room, lanterns around the walls lighting up with luminescent orbs as he passed through the open door. "Well, there's no need to sound so enthusiastic," he said. "What are you doing here?"

Jack shrugged. "People don't usually come in here."

Hiccup walked over to a workbench and set down the mechanisms of Toothless's tail on the table, the dragon himself curling up on the floor beside him to watch. "I can tell."

Jack jumped off his staff and meandered over to the worktable. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing you would care about."

Jack frowned. "I get the sense you don't like me very much."

Hiccup said nothing for a moment, beginning to go to work on the tail. "We have legends about you in Berk, you know."

Jack looked surprised. "You do?"

"Yeah. Jokul Frosti, the son of the wind god who was the son of a frost giant. The ice spirit who puts frost on the windows at night in the winter."

"But… I've never been to Berk. How… how could you have legends about me?"

"I don't know. Maybe stories have a way of spreading across dimensions. That's just what the legends say." He loosened a bolt, holding it up to inspect. "They also say you're a mischievous prankster, and not to make you angry because you freeze to death anyone who crosses you." He opened up the tail and smoothed out the red material. "You don't exactly come across as friendly, or trustworthy, either."

Jack stayed thoughtfully silent for a second. Then, "Your legends are wrong."

Hiccup looked up. "Oh really?"

"Yes. To start with, I'm not the son of any wind god. I'm friends with the wind, yeah, but no more than that. I put frost on windows and maybe I do like a good prank every now and then, but I don't kill people who make me mad and I _don't_ betray people's trust, even if they think I do. You can ask Bunny about that."

Hiccup said nothing.

"Look," Jack continued. "I know I was kind of being a jerk earlier, but I'm just as unprepared for this as you are. We're going to have to work together, and I don't want any bad blood between us because it might get people hurt." He held out his hand. "So… let's just start over. I'm Jack Frost."

Hiccup looked at his hand, and after a brief hesitation shook it. "Hiccup." He turned towards his dragon. "And this is Toothless."

Toothless looked up at the sound of his name, getting to his feet. Hiccup guided Jack's hand towards his snout, and though Jack obeyed he remained on edge. Giving Jack a wary look, Toothless reluctantly leaned into his hand. The two stood there tensely, but after a second or two they relaxed and Toothless closed his eyes.

Then they flew open again as Toothless jerked away with an indignant snort, frost spreading across his snout.

"Whoops," Jack said with a smirk. "Sorry."

Toothless rammed his head against him in payback, but it was a playful gesture.

Jack smiled. "Well, I've gotta go. Good luck with your… whatever that is." He motioned towards the parts of the tail strewn across the table and began walking out the door. "See you tomorrow." Then he was gone.

A sense of déjà vu swept through Hiccup as dread pooled within him, because tomorrow was the start of something that he was a natural failure at.

Training.

* * *

**Ugh why does this seemed so rushed to me?!**

**Okay, so I might be stretching ROTG's belief rules a little bit, but my logic is that Rapunzel can see Jack because she believes in magic, Merida can see him because she believes in her fate which Jack is a part of, and Hiccup can see him because he believes in Jokul Frosti, who is the actual Norse origin of Jack Frost in real life. Also, by extension, anyone who is part of or knows all about the MDA can see him and the other Guardians as well.**

**Okanee: What are you doing reading fanfiction in the middle of class? Haha I'm just kidding, glad you like it :D**

**PencilofAwesomeness: That about sums it up, yeah.**

**stuffandthangs: Don't stress out too much, I know what you meant :)**

**moviefanatic22: Merida's mom understands Yetish because when you're a queen you have to know these things, you know? Now that you mention it, I actually _have _read Seraphina, though it was a while ago. I thought I made the name Goredd up but i guess I just dredged it up from my subconcious or something. The rest of your questions will be answered in time,don't worry.**

**changeofheart505: You bet he was.**

**candycanelila: Thanks! And yeah, I know, her dress has been getting progressively worse with every dimension.**

**Guest: Glad you think so.**

**SomeRandomPerson: Yes, that's true, though i think she might want something a little better than a frying pan for a multi-dimensional war, don't you think?**

**Dee Dee: I'm glad you're glad!**

**I know you all are itching for some action, but trust me: _it's coming._**


	7. Training

**Oh, gosh. How long has it been? Two weeks? Three? I don't even know anymore. Sorry about that. Although to be fair, I did warn you that updates would be slow. This is the time of year when school starts up again and the fanfiction world undergoes a mass slowdown. Also, I have to admit that I had to pull myself out of the pit of obsession to write this chapter because, as some of you already know, I went and got myself addicted to the TV show Supernatural. But enough with the excuses. You did come here for the story, after all.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Training

_"No matter how long you train someone to be brave, you never know if they are or not until something real happens." _

-Veronica Roth, _Insurgent_

* * *

A loud knocking noise on the wooden door woke Hiccup from his sleep quite suddenly. He groaned and made a motion to get up only to roll halfway off the bed, suspended upside-down and hopelessly entangled in the heavy blankets. The door cracked open to reveal a yeti standing there with a bundle of clothes.

"Adasfega nwarfen," He said, not seeming surprised to see Hiccup in such a strange position. He threw the bundle down to the floor in front of him. "Olgolaw basefed hurmudu." With that he closed the door, leaving Hiccup to work his way out of the blankets.

Once he had, he opened the bundle to see the sort of clothes he was expected to wear. They looked quite a lot like his clothes from Berk, although admittedly more flexible and not nearly as scratchy. Leather pants, green shirt made from some sort of material that stretched to fit his body, and boots (well, boot) with a sole made from another material that he could not name but provided a lot of traction. The outfit was comfortable and easy to move around in, but Hiccup still didn't feel quite right in it. After a brief hesitation, he put on his vest, the scratchy brown one made from yak skin, which for some reason made the whole thing feel better to wear.

Toothless was still curled up, unmoving, by the side of Hiccup's bed. He was pretending to be asleep, but Hiccup knew he just didn't want to get up. He went over to him and nudged him with his foot.

"Come on, bud. Let's go."

Toothless ignored him, bringing his tail around to cover his face.

Hiccup sighed. "I don't want to do this anymore than you do, Toothless. Do you have to make things difficult?"

Toothless huffed once, as if to say, _Yes._

"Fine," Hiccup said. "Then I'll just leave you here. Have fun being stuck in this room all day."

He turned on his heel and headed towards the door without looking back. A few seconds later he heard the sound of Toothless' reluctant footsteps following him. He smiled slightly.

"That's what I thought," he muttered.

Hiccup pushed open the door and stepped outside, and the yeti who was still standing there began herding him away. After walking halfway around the whole circumference of the workshop, through six doors, down five hallways, and up one winding staircase, they arrived at their destination: an airy, circular room with a lofty ceiling and a big empty space right in the middle.

Rapunzel and Merida were already there, standing close to each other and talking quietly. Rapunzel's newly blonde hair was braided into a mere fraction of its original length down her back, while Merida's was pulled back into an incredibly bushy ponytail. The outfits they wore were much like his, although Rapunzel's shirt was purple and Merida's somewhere between blue and green.

Hiccup meandered over to them, feeling slightly awkward. He was usually quite good with new people, but he had never been in a situation like this.

"Hello," he greeted them.

"Morning," Merida said in return.

"Hi," said Rapunzel. She smiled, and brightened at the sight of Toothless behind him. "Oh, and hi!"

Toothless nudged her gently with his head in greeting.

"So…" Hiccup began. "What do you think we are going to do today? Go see some crazy new dimension? Fight some villain that is miraculously back from the dead?"

Rapunzel laughed lightly. "I hope not. I think I've been dragged through enough dimensions for the week."

"North did say training," Merida said. "I suppose they will be teaching us how to fight better."

"Try fight, period," Rapunzel said.

"Where is everyone, anyway?" Hiccup asked, looking around the room.

Just then, a door on the opposite side of the room opened and the Guardians came through, talking amongst themselves. Jack trailed behind, his staff thrown over his shoulder and a slightly bored expression on his face. He left the others to their conversation and joined Hiccup, Rapunzel, and Merida.

"Hey," he said.

"What are they talking about over there?" Merida inquired, watching the Guardians.

Jack sighed. "Oh, boring stuff. Logistics and time management and things like that. Tooth and Sandy have full-time jobs, you know, and Christmas is coming up soon. They're trying to figure out how they're going to do this whole training thing while keeping their own schedules on track."

The others nodded as if they understood, even though they didn't really. Hiccup didn't even know what Christmas was, but he figured that asking one question would just lead to about a thousand more.

"Didn't they make you wear these training outfits?" Rapunzel asked, and Hiccup realized that Jack was still in his brown pants, blue hoodie, and bare feet.

"They tried," Jack assured her with a grin. "It didn't end well. I would stay out of the south wing if I were you, by the way. It'll take a couple days to thaw out."

At this point North seemed to finish making a point and ended the conversation, turning to face Hiccup and the others. He clapped his huge hands together jovially.

"Good morning!" he said. "Sleep well?" Before any of them could answer, he continued. "Of course you did, Sandy saw to it. So now that we are all good and rested, let us get down to business." He pointed to the three Guardians beside him. "Sandy, Tooth, and Bunny will be helping with training. I must be off. Busy time of year, you know. They will help you improve your strengths if you have any and otherwise prepare you. Jack, that includes you."

"What?" Jack protested. "But North, I already know how to fight!"

"We are facing four different enemies with four different fighting styles," North said reasonably. "You must know how to defend against them all." He paused, and then added as an afterthought, "Actually, you four should probably talk about that. Brief each other on each enemy, you know." Another pause, and then he finished with, "I have to go now, but I will see you all later. Train well."

He turned and walked out of the room, and Bunny stepped forward to take his place.

"Alright, so first things first. What skills do you already have?" he asked them.

They hesitated, and then Merida spoke up. "Well, I am quite good at archery. And I'm not so bad at sword-fighting if I do say so myself."

"I never actually brought this up," Jack said, "But I've pretty much mastered parkour and three different types of martial arts."

Bunny looked surprised. "Really? Well, that's good. What about you, Hiccup? You're a Viking, right? So you're probably good with swords, axes, hammers, things like that."

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, uh, actually, personal combat isn't really my forte. Or anything on the ground, really. Aerial combat, though- that's our specialty." He gestured to Toothless.

Bunny nodded. "We can work with that. And Rapunzel?"

"Well…" she laughed, rather embarrassed. "Um… I can be pretty dangerous with a frying pan… if that helps?"

Sandy pointed to Rapunzel's hair and made a question mark appear in sand over his head.

A look of realization dawned on her face. "Oh, right! I can use my hair like a whip or a rope, you know to catch things- or people."

"Okay," said Bunny, "You all have something to start with. That's good. We don't have a lot of time to train you; a week or two at most. So we are going to get right into this." He pointed at Rapunzel. "You are going to be working with Sandy on improving your hair whip thing or whatever it is." He turned to Hiccup and Merida. "You two are going to practice sword-fighting with Tooth. And Jack, you'll be with me and we'll work on one-on-one. After an hour or so we'll switch, so we can get as much ground covered as possible. Get started."

They each went to their assigned stations, Hiccup following Tooth to one corner of the room where the yetis were setting out a table covered in all sorts of different types of swords and daggers.

"You've both had experience fighting with swords before, right?" Tooth asked, picking up a pair of long, curved swords with elaborate hilts from the table.

"Yes," Merida answered while Hiccup nodded. "And… you do too?"

Tooth laughed. "I don't look like it, do I? I mean, who would have ever guessed that the Tooth Fairy knew how to swordfight? But trust me," She tossed both swords in the air, and they each flipped three full times before she caught them again without error, sweeping them out in front of her. "I know how to use these things."

Hiccup laughed nervously. "We believe you."

Tooth pointed one of her swords towards the table. "First thing you need to do is find the sword that works with you the best. Pick them up, swing them around, try them on that dummy over there," she pointed to said dummy that was being brought out by another yeti, "And once you've got one we can go into techniques."

Hiccup looked at the expansive collection of swords, and hesitantly picked up a long, double-edged sword with a gilded hilt that was so heavy he almost immediately dropped it on his foot. After a few swings he knew it clearly wasn't working, so he moved on to a thin-bladed saber like the ones Tooth had, and though that one was much lighter it proved harder to control, and almost flew out of his hand when he moved it too fast.

He tried five swords after that, but none of them felt comfortable or maneuverable in his hand. Eventually, however, he decided on what was perhaps the simplest sword in the bunch. It was straight and double-edged like the first, but it was much smaller and shorter with the hilt wrapped in worn brown leather. Out of all the swords he had tried, this one worked the best for him.

Merida had also chosen a straight double-edge, but it was nearly twice as long as Hiccup's with a thicker blade and pure silver hilt, and so big that she had to hold it up with two hands, which Hiccup thought was a bit of a disadvantage. But whatever worked for her, he supposed.

Tooth set them right to work, starting with basic sword work that Hiccup had learned before and working up to more complex moves. They practiced using both the dummy and each other, sometimes going up against Tooth- though those matches never lasted long. It was not as bad as Hiccup had expected, surprisingly. Perhaps because this was more of an individualized training than he had ever had before, and Tooth was more focused on making him better, personally, than Gobber or any other trainer had ever been.

But, since he was Hiccup and it was an unspoken requirement that he always had to mess things up at some point, he did tend get sloppy. Apparently his guard was always up too high, he swung without enough control, and he let the sword control him instead of the other way around. Once, out of pure frustration, he swung so hard the sword flew out of his hand and nearly impaled a yeti standing nearby. It was then that Tooth decided that it was time for them to have a break.

Merida and Hiccup walked over to a station where yetis filled cups of water for them, and sat down on a bench and watched Rapunzel and Jack continue to train. Rapunzel had undone her hair and was using it like whips, Sandy instructing her with sand whips of his own. She held a frying pan in one hand, which Hiccup thought she had been joking about. Obviously not. Jack and Bunny were locked in an intense sparring match, staff against long wooden stave. Both refused to back down, and even from here Hiccup could hear them shouting insults at each other. He couldn't quite make out exactly what they were saying over the clashing of wood, but he did catch "fluffy", "frostbite", "cottontail," and "show pony".

Hiccup took a big gulp of water and wiped sweat out of his stinging eyes, Merida beside him doing the same.

"You know," she said to him, "I've never done anything like this before."

Hiccup laughed. "Really?"

"Oh, you know what I mean," Merida said, giving him a half-hearted shove. "I mean, I've trained before, but it was never nearly this… intense, I suppose."

"Yeah, me neither," Hiccup agreed. "But you're a natural at this stuff, anyway."

"You mean swordfighting? Ha, you should see me with a bow in my hands!"

"No doubt I would be dazzled by your brilliance," he said dryly.

Merida shoved him again.

Toothless, who throughout Hiccup's training had been alternating between sitting and watching and pacing impatiently, made a restless keening noise and looked at him imploringly. Hiccup sighed, knowing that look. He wanted to go flying, but as far as Hiccup could tell there was no room inside the North Pole to do so, nor was there any time.

"Sorry bud," he said. "We can't."

"Wow," Merida remarked as Toothless huffed resentfully and resumed his pacing. "You two really understand each other, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess," Hiccup replied.

"It's actually not that hard."

Hiccup looked up as Rapunzel joined the conversation, grabbing a cup of cool water and plopping down beside him on the bench.

"I have a pet chameleon, Pascal, and we can basically talk to each other without him using words," she continued. "It just sort of comes with being so close to a pet he's more of a best friend than a pet."

Hiccup nodded. "Where is Pascal?"

Rapunzel looked a little saddened. "He's back in Corona. He usually comes with me everywhere, but everything just happened so fast…"

Merida looked understanding. "I have a horse named Angus. He and I have been through a lot together… it's a shame he couldn't come."

"You guys are getting so sentimental." Jack's voice came in as he joined them, taking a cup of water. "It's not like you're never going to see your pets again or anything."

"Do you have a pet, Jack?" Rapunzel asked.

"No… but I have a friend with a dog named Abby. Does that count?"

"Sure. Why not."

Merida leaned back and blew a piece of hair out of her face. "I don't think I've ever been so sweaty in my life," she commented.

"Yes, I know how you feel," agreed Rapunzel, dragging her forearm across her forehead.

"What I wouldn't give for a lake to jump in right now," Hiccup said wistfully.

Merida frowned at Jack. "How are _you _not sweating?" she demanded, and Hiccup realized that Jack was, indeed, looking like he hadn't even exercised at all. "You and Bunny looked about ready to kill each other!"

"Oh, that," Jack said dismissively. "That was just a little friendly competition. And I don't sweat."

"What do you mean you don't sweat? Everyone sweats!" Hiccup said.

Jack shrugged. "Not me. I just don't."

"Lucky," Rapunzel muttered.

Bunny's voice called out from the center of the room. "Alright, you four! Back to work! One more hour and then we'll switch."

Reluctantly, Hiccup got to his feet and picked up his sword again, walking with Merida back over to Tooth. Tooth wasted no time, jumping right back into training mode.

"So, Hiccup, I've been thinking about your fighting style and how you attack and defend, and I figured out why everything you do is always a little off." She took the sword out of his right hand, the one he had always used to fight with, and moved it to his left, holding up her own sword. "Try that."

Hiccup sighed but raised his blade anyway, preparing to be defeated embarrassingly quickly by the fairy once again. She made the first move, but Hiccup actually managed to block and counterattack in time. Somehow he just felt more balanced now, and he sparred with Tooth for nearly five minutes before she knocked the sword out of his hand again- a much better time than his previous thirty second record.

"I knew it!" Tooth exclaimed in delight, a smile breaking across her face. "Hiccup, you've been using your right hand all this time, but you fight _left-handed_!"

Hiccup looked down at the sword and shifted it back and forth from his left to his right, hefting it in his grasp, and he realized Tooth was right; it really did feel like it belonged in his left hand more than his right. And now that he thought about it… he wrote with his left, drew with his left, ate with his left- and yet he had always fought with his right. Probably because all the other kids had been right-handed, and he had just gotten into the habit over the years of just exactly copying whatever they did. He realized how stupid that was now.

"Well that would have been useful to know, oh, about my whole lifetime ago," he said.

"This is great!" Tooth was still smiling. "We can actually make some real progress now!'

They continued, and to Hiccup's great surprise he found he was actually good at swordfighting. Him, a talented swordsman! It was hard to believe, but after disarming Merida twice and even causing Tooth to slip up once, he was beginning to think it might be true.

A little while later, he and Merida were practicing slashing through an invisible enemy and using their momentum to carry them into their next move. Merida went strangely quiet, and after a few minutes spoke up.

"Tooth, these moves… they're meant to kill, aren't they?" Tooth hesitated, and she spoke again. "I… I've never killed anyone before."

Tooth lowered her sword from showing them a particular stance. "You won't be fighting people, for the most part," she said. "Mainly nightmares. These swords are forged with stardust, and they can dissolve a nightmare on contact. The nightmares can't withstand the power of the light in the stardust, so they just melt away like shadows in the sunlight. You're not killing at all, really… just purifying."

"But these other enemies," Merida said. "They _are _human. And so are their armies. What are we supposed to do when it comes to that?"

Tooth paused again, and the moment of silence was heavy. When she spoke again, her voice seemed overly cheery and her smile forced. "Well, tomorrow we'll work on knocking people out with the hilts and the flats of the blades. I'm sure that will help."

They went back to work, but Merida still looked unsettled. Hiccup could understand why; using the hilts and the flats could only get them so far. He had the horrible feeling that, eventually, he was going to have to hurt someone to save his own skin. Maybe… maybe even kill.

But that was what a warrior was, wasn't it? Someone who was willing to do whatever was necessary to protect the things they loved. His dad had killed before, Gobber had, and in fact almost all the older citizens of Berk had spilled blood at some point in their lives- and not just dragon blood, either. Vikings' lives were not easy, and rarely were they peaceful. His generation- Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruff, Tuff, every Viking child, really- knew that. It was why they trained, why they learned to fight. Why they were bred with a bloodthirsty streak (which Hiccup had somehow missed out on) and courage bordering on stupidity (which he somehow hadn't). But real, actual war against other tribes had always been a faraway thing, an unlikely possibility- after all, everyone was too worried about the dragon attacks to bother with other tribes.

Until recently, anyway.

Hiccup pulled his mind back into focus as Tooth finished up her lecture on how to correctly defend when temporarily disarmed. Then she dismissed them and they moved on to the other stations for about four more hours, taking occasional breaks for water and a slightly longer one for lunch. Neither Bunny's nor Sandy's lessons were quite as difficult as Tooth's, but all of them combined left Hiccup completely wiped out by the end of the day. Exhausted, he nearly had to drag himself back to his room where he was told to rest up before dinner. The first thing he did when he got back was collapse face-first onto his bed, ignoring Toothless' pleas that they go find somewhere to fly.

He didn't make it to the evening meal that first day of training, however. He was out before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

**Hiccup, you seem to have stolen the main POV. Shame on you.**

**This chapter would have been longer, but I had to cut it short so I could finish it tonight because if I didn't then it wouldn't be out until next weekend and then you guys would ****_really _****be mad at me.**

**That thing about Hiccup being left-handed is true by the way. He is in the books, and when I watched the movie again to check if that version of him was, I actually did notice that he wrote, drew, and ate with his left and yet in the scenes where he was holding an axe or a dagger or something he used his right.**

**Okanee: Don't tell Merida or Rapunzel I said this, but I agree with you. My two favorite sarcastic boys, haha.**

**LoveLiveLaugh Forever: Well, here you go.**

**SomeRandomPerson: That's actually not a bad idea at all.**

**Literature work: Yeah, the thesaurus and I are practically best friends.**

**Anime-Pony: You. Are. Amazing. for reviewing!**

**Guest: Pairings? Well, that's what we're all wondering, isn't it? To be honest, I can't decide... we'll just have to see.**

**candycanelila: Don't apologize, I love when people get giddy in reviews!**

**Wielder of Fate: 8 out of 10? Wow. I'm flattered :)**

**Dee Dee: Deep breaths, Dee Dee. Deep breaths.**

**Dot: I'm sorry! I'm sorry!**

**Rmoltpg2: Oh my gosh you're right! I totally did not even realize that, that's actually pretty cool (and completely unintentional).**


	8. Practice Makes Perfect

**Um... hi.**

**A month? Has it really been that long? Huh. Time does fly, doesn't it? In my defense, it has been a really busy month and I've had, like, next to no freetime, and homecoming week is ****_crazy, _****and none of you care about my excuses so why am I even bothering...**

**Right. I'll shut up. Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Practice Makes Perfect

_"You can't hire someone to practice for you."_

- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

* * *

The second day of training was much like the first- though admittedly much more painful, as Hiccup's muscles were incredibly sore from the intensity of the previous day. On that day he focused more on weaponless combat and less on swordfighting, spending the majority of the day with Bunny, who acted like a drill sergeant and wasn't afraid to push him to his physical limits.

The time he spent with Sandy was mainly about long-distance weaponry. It was during that time that he struggled to handle a bow and arrow and was completely outshone by Merida, who hit every single target dead center- no matter if it was stationary or moving, big or small, on the wall or the ceiling- all the while shooting him smug looks as if to say, _Told you so._

Tooth kept true to her word and taught him how to knock people out with his sword rather than kill them. She also threw a shield into the mix, teaching him how to use it and balance it while handling the sword at the same time. Her station had become the easiest to Hiccup; he was pleasantly surprised to find that it came rather naturally to him once he had switched the sword to his left hand.

Hiccup spent breaks and meals with Jack, Merida, and Rapunzel, talking about nothing and everything, joking around, and just getting to know each other better.

On the third day, they did away with the stations and all four of them were trained together. Hiccup learned to work in a group, with each person relying on the others to cover their backs and fighting as a unit. It took a lot of time, as it was hard to get everything going exactly the way it should- probably because the four of them had only known each other for about four days, and they simply didn't trust that quickly. But they definitely made progress.

On the fourth day, Toothless was so cranky and restless from not getting to fly at all that he was more than ready to bite the head off anyone who dared approach him. Then, when he almost did bite the head off an elf that was foolish enough to do just that, Hiccup managed to convince the Guardians that it went against a dragon's nature to remain grounded for so long and that if Toothless didn't get what he wanted he just might end up destroying the North Pole and burning it down to the ground.

Apparently North wasn't willing to risk it, so Hiccup was taken to the biggest, loftiest, emptiest room in the whole workshop and given an hour to do whatever he had to to keep Toothless from going on a rampage out of sheer frustration. It was a huge room, but there wasn't nearly as much space as the two of them were used to when it came to flying. Apparently it was too cold for them to fly outside, so they had to satisfy themselves with flying as fast as possible around the circumference of the room. Jack joined them, racing them and challenging them to do new aerial maneuvers that they had never tried before.

On the fifth day, they continued with group training, but added a new element. They were all taken to the flying room instead of the usual training room, and took into account the fact that in battles Jack and Hiccup would be spending just as much time in the air than on the ground, if not more. Hiccup and Toothless learned how to swoop in and pick up Merida and Rapunzel, either to save them from the midst of an overpowering fight or to take them somewhere faster than they could have gone on their own. Merida and Rapunzel, on the other hand, learned how to fight from an aerial vantage point.

On the sixth day, they put all the elements of training they had learned so far together, and Hiccup felt that they worked so well together it was if they had known each other their whole lives and had been training for months instead of a mere week. Hiccup hadn't thought it was humanly possible for them all to learn so fast, but he supposed the looming threat of an imminent attack and trainers who trained them for as many as 16 hours a day tended to speed up the process quite a bit.

And then, on the seventh day, Hiccup walked into the training room to find that, instead of being greeted by the usual setup and the Guardians getting ready for another day of grueling hard work, the only people in the room were Jack, Merida, Rapunzel, and himself.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Apparently we've been given the day off," Merida said.

"Really?" Hiccup replied, hardly daring to believe it.

"Not really," Jack said, shooting him down. "The only reason is because the amount of kids having nightmares spiked last night, and the others feel like they should oversee their jobs personally until they can make sure Pitch isn't trying anything yet."

"And if he is?" Rapunzel asked.

Jack shrugged. "Then it's showtime for us."

"Already?" Hiccup asked, alarmed.

"Maybe," Jack said. "Which is why they want us to spend the day 'familiarizing each other with the enemy'. North's words. Basically we need to tell each other everything we can about the bad guys so that we know how to fight them."

"Well then we should probably sit down," Merida said grimly. "This could take awhile."

The four of them went over to a bench, and Merida remained standing while the other four sat.

"I'll go first," she said.

The others nodded in agreement, and she cleared her throat before she began.

"Mor'du used to be a prince of the kingdom- one of four. But he became brutal and power-hungry, and his attempt to overpower his brothers landed him as a bear and his kingdom divided and in ruins."

"How the heck did he end up as a bear?" Jack asked.

"Magic spell from a witch," Merida explained. "It didn't go as planned. But anyway, the last time I fought him his bear form was killed and his soul was released. I thought he might be at peace… but apparently the life as a will-o-the-wisp doesn't suit him."

"A what?" Rapunzel asked.

"A will-o-the-wisp. They're magical little blue creatures that lead you to your fate."

Her words sparked something in Hiccup's memory, and he pulled out his sketchbook, opening it to the drawing he had made in DunBroch. "Do they look like this?"

"Yes," Merida said, sounding surprised. "Did you see one?"

"Yeah, back when we came to pick you up. You don't think it was Mor'du, do you?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. There are countless wisps hiding in the woods of DunBroch. He could hide among them and we would never know."

"Hang on," Jack said. "If he _is_ one of those, then how could he fight? He's got no more substance than smoke!"

"I've never heard of it before… but maybe he can change his shape as a wisp. Maybe he can turn into a different form and back again. If that's true, though, then he would be extremely hard to track."

"We'll worry about that when we get to it," Hiccup said. "What are his strengths? How does he fight?"

"I've only ever fought him as a bear, but I've been told he usually fights with an axe. His human form is pretty big and brutal, so strength is definitely on his side."

"Anything else?" Rapunzel asked.

"Not that I can think of at the moment. I really don't know that much about him."

"Then I'll go," Rapunzel said, standing up. She waited until Merida sat down before she began.

"The first thing you should know about Gothel is that she's vain. She kidnapped me and kept me prisoner my whole life just so she could stay beautiful forever. She's also shrewd and sneaky, and you should never trust anything she says. I didn't know she knew magic, but it doesn't surprise me. She's the type who would cast a spell on you when your back is turned just because she can. She doesn't much care about anything unless it's for her own personal gain; she's not a team player."

"Then why would she be part of this enemy alliance?" Merida asked.

"Probably because she's planning on waiting until she has what she wants, and then stabbing her allies in the back. Gothel doesn't have any honor; she's about as trustworthy as a snake."

"And her fighting style?" Jack asked.

"Gothel prefers not to get her hands dirty; she usually tricks someone else into doing it for her. But if she has to, she does it quietly and before you even realize what's happened. She's more of an assassin than a soldier; sneak up, get the job done, and leave before anyone's the wiser." Rapunzel paused. "If you ask me, she's much more dangerous than pure strength and brute force."

The others nodded. "We'll keep that in mind," Hicccup said, standing up as Rapunzel took her seat again.

"So, Alvin the Treacherous, leader of the Outcasts. I guess the first thing to know about Alvin is that he's nothing if not determined. He wants to be able to train dragons, and he'll do whatever he has to to get it. He's attempted to kidnap me a couple times and even succeeded once, but he still hasn't been able to train any dragons. If he did, he would use them to attack and take over Berk . He's vicious, murderous, strong, and smarter than most Outcasts."

"How did he become an Outcast?" Rapunzel asked.

Hiccup paused. "Actually, I have no idea. It must have been something pretty bad, though… it takes a lot to get banished."

"Fighting style?" Merida prompted.

"He's huge and ruthless, and he's not someone you take a fight with lightly. He uses axes, swords, his bare hands, anything he can get his hands on, really. He's not afraid to kick you while you're down, so to speak. He'd be pretty hard to beat using pure force; you'd probably need to outsmart him."

"Good to know," Jack said, rising from his seat as Hiccup sat down again.

"Ok, so where should I start? Pitch Black, a.k.a. the Boogeyman. Not someone you would want to meet in a dark alley- although that would be a likely place to find him. Pitch likes to stick to the shadows- in closets, under beds, in dark corners, anywhere creepy. He can turn good dreams into nightmares, and he gets strength from fear, especially the fear of children. He can travel through shadows, so if you're fighting somewhere dark then he already has the upper hand."

"What's he like?" Hiccup asked. "You know, his personality."

"Personality? Well, first off he's manipulative and clever. He likes to mess with your mind, always knows just what to say to do it. He's bitter and solitary, and wants revenge on us Guardians- wants it badly. He's the personification of fear itself, and he knows your worst fears. He won't hesitate to use them against you, either."

"Wait, what?" Raunzel said. "How are we supposed to fight him if he has _that_ sort of ammo?"

Jack shrugged. "Just don't let him get to you."

"You make it sound so easy," Merida muttered.

"It's _not_ easy," Jack admitted. "Mostly because he tells you exactly what you don't want to hear, and he knows it will screw up your mind. My advice to you? Don't let him get you alone. The more vulnerable you are, the easier it is for him to toy with you."

"Does he have any weapons, aside from that?" Hiccup asked.

"He uses nightmare sand, so he can make any weapon he wants. Arrows, scythes, spears, whatever works best for him in the moment. Be prepared for anything. He usually sends his nightmares to do his dirty work for him, which are basically horses of nightmare sand."

Hiccup was surprised to hear that. All this time, whenever the Guardians spoke of nightmares as physical beings, he always imagined them to be like dark versions of Outcasts: big, brutal men made of shadows and darkness.

"We've been training as if we will be fighting human opponents," he said. "How are we supposed to fight against a _horse_?"

"He has a point," agreed Rapunzel.

Jack hesitated. "I don't know… you just do."

Merida snorted. "Well that's_ real_ helpful."

Jack looked as if he was trying to think of something to help them out. After a moment, his face lit up. "I have an idea. The best way to learn is through experience, right? So we'll go somewhere and fight some nightmares. I'm sure there will be plenty around."

"Are we allowed to do that?" Rapunzel asked.

Jack shrugged. "Probably not. But I don't see anyone around to stop us, do you?" He gestured around the empty room.

"Okay… but how do we get out of here?" Hiccup questioned. "I mean, it's pretty obvious that North has some tight security around here."

"True," Jack admitted. "No one gets in here unless he wants them in. Trust me, I've tried. But he's not nearly so focused on keeping things from getting out."

He leaned in closer, lowering his voice despite the fact they were the only ones around- probably for dramatic effect. "Here's the plan. We'll all go back to our rooms and make the yetis think that we're planning on staying there for the rest of the day. Then I'll come get you. I've done a lot of exploring around the Pole, so I know where there are secret passages. We'll use a snow globe to go out, fight some nightmares and give a few more kids a good night's sleep, and get back here before anyone's the wiser," he finished, looking satisfied with himself.

"Sounds like a plan," Merida said. "Let's do it."

Hiccup shrugged. "Why not? I've done crazier things."

"Sounds exciting!" Rapunzel said.

"Great," said Jack. "Let's go."

They meandered out of the training room, walking leisurely back to their rooms and talking just a bit overly loudly about how so very tired they were, and how they figured they might as well use the day off to get some extra sleep, and how they really wouldn't like to be disturbed today.

Hiccup thought they were rather obvious about it, but the yetis seemed to think they were being genuine. They nodded as they went by, speaking in their weird language and saying what was probably a promise to let them sleep and leave them alone. Or at least, that's what Hiccup hoped they were saying. You never knew when it came to yetis.

Eventually their little group parted ways, each going to their different rooms. Hiccup shut the door to his room and sat on his bed to wait while Toothless paced around in excitement.

"I bet you're happy, bud," he said to Toothless. "You're actually going to get some real action for once!"

Toothless rumbled in the back of his throat in agreement, and Hiccup smiled.

* * *

The false wall slid open under Jack's touch, revealing the stone slide that waited behind it. Jack glanced behind him to make sure no one was watching, and then ducked into the passage. The wall shut behind him and he zoomed down the slide, which he knew would lead him to a hall that was adjacent to the wing of the Pole that was dedicated to guest rooms.

When Jack had first discovered that the entire Pole was laced with secret passageways, he couldn't say he was surprised. It just seemed like something North would do. Every time he thought he knew the whole place top to bottom, he would find something completely new- like discovering an extra Christmas present under the tree just when it looked like all the gifts were opened. He suspected that not even the yetis knew all the Pole's secrets, and it was possible that not even North did. Most of the passageways seemed like they were never used.

It probably would have been a lot easier to smuggle the others out if he had taken a room in the same wing as them. When he had first become a Guardian, North had offered him a room in that wing, but he had declined since he found it too confining. He had instead found his ideal spot far on the other side of the Pole- the tallest tower in the southern wing. It was perfect- a room way up high with big glassless windows that let the snow and the wind in. It was isolated, sure, but to be honest sometimes Jack preferred to be alone, as crazy as that sounded. After all, how many times in the past had he wished for just the opposite? But old habits die hard, he supposed.

The slide came to a stop in front of a blank expanse of wall, but after feeling around for a moment Jack found the release latch and popped it open. He stepped out noiselessly and closed the door behind him with a click. At one end of the hallway a yeti lumbered in his direction, but he could not see Jack around the wheelbarrow full of toys he pushed in front of him. Jack stepped in front of the wheel barrow and kept out of the yeti's line of sight, walking backwards until the yeti reached the corner and turned, Jack slipping past unnoticed. He hurried down the hallway and flew up to the ceiling, opening a loose panel and entering. He followed the passage, knowing that it had entrances to every room in this wing.

Going on what he remembered, he took a guess at which panel led into one of the others' rooms. He opened it and poked his head in, hanging upside down from the ceiling. Rapunzel sat on her bed with her back to him, her long hair shining like gold in the lamplight and her frying pan tucked under her arm.

"Hi Rapunzel," he said.

Rapunzel uttered a little scream of surprise and jumped about a foot off the bed. She looked up wildly, seeming shocked to see him dangling from her ceiling. "Jack! You can't just burst in here like that! Some warning would be nice!"

He dropped from the ceiling and landed on his feet. "I told you I was coming."

"Not from the ceiling! And can't you knock first or something?"

"Why?"

"I could have been getting dressed or something!"

The tips of Jack's ears grew warm. "But you weren't."

"But I could have been!"

"Jeez, Rapunzel," Jack said, growing more embarrassed with each passing second. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't really think about that. Can we just go?"

Rapunzel's cheeks were coloring, too. "Yes, yes… let's go."

Jack flew back up to the ceiling and reached down, taking her hand and helping her up. She crouched a little in the small space as she followed him to another spot several panels down and to the right. He knocked on the panel, giving Rapunzel a look.

"There. Happy?"

Before she could respond that yes, she was, actually, Merida's voice called from the room below.

"That better not be a huge rat."

Jack opened the panel and laughed. "Don't worry. Our personal hygiene isn't _that_ bad."

He reached down and helped her up, bracing his staff against the floor of the passage for support. She crouched next to him in the ever-smaller space, straightening her bow and quiver on her back.

"Isn't this cozy," she said.

Jack led them on, farther down the passageway and taking a few turns. Finally he stopped at another panel and knocked on it. "Hiccup?"

"I'm here," Hiccup answered.

Jack opened the panel and saw Hiccup staring up at him while strapping his sword to his belt. "C'mon."

Hiccup grabbed his hand and clambered up into the passageway. When he saw how small it was, he frowned. "Um, guys? Toothless isn't going to fit in here."

Jack glanced down through the open panel and saw Toothless standing below, staring up at them and looking abandoned. He gave the passageway an appraising look and sighed. "No, he's not."

He turned to Merida and Rapunzel. "Do you think you could navigate up here on your own?"

Their only response was to give him lost expressions.

He sighed again. "Alright, fine. In the next hallway over there's a room with a direct passage to North's office. That should be big enough for Toothless. We just have to get there unnoticed."

They dropped down into Hiccup's room and headed over to the door, which Jack cracked open and glanced down to either end of the hall. It was, for once, empty. He waved them forth and they slipped out, heading quickly and silently down to the end of the hall. Jack turned the corner first- and nearly got run over by a yeti coming in that direction. He made frantic motions to the others and they ducked into an empty bedroom as the yeti raised an eyebrow and began questioning Jack in Yetish.

"I was just going out for a walk," he said in explanation.

The yeti said something else, gesturing wildly. Jack couldn't understand what he was saying, but he'd been through this often enough. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it's almost Christmas and you're somehow convinced that I could singlehandedly destroy the whole workshop with one prank and ruin the entire holiday. But c'mon, do you seriously think that I would intentionally sabotage you?"

The yeti looked at him doubtfully.

"Would it make you feel better if I just went outside and made it snow for a while?" he asked, half mockingly, half sincerely.

The yeti nodded and continued on his way, waving him off with a motion like, _You do that._

Jack shook his head and waited until the yeti was out of sight, and then motioned for the others to come out. They sped down the hall and Jack opened the passage with another hidden latch. They entered and the door closed behind them, the long, wide, passage lit by more of the magical orbs of light that floated around the Pole. He turned to the others.

"You make this _way _more stressful than it should be."

They laughed sheepishly as they followed him down the passage. After a moment Rapunzel piped up.

"Hey Jack? What did you mean back there when you said you were going to make it snow?"

He glanced back at her. "You're serious?"

She looked confused. "What?"

"Yes, I was wondering about that, too," Merida added.

He turned around fully and stared at them. "How is it that we're about to go into battle and we still do not know the most basic things about each other?"

They shrugged.

He resisted the urge to facepalm. "I said I was going to make it snow because I'm the Spirit of Winter and that's what I do. Make winter. All around the world. Didn't my name clue you into that? And the fact that I can, you know, fly?"

Merida was blushing a little in the dim light. "Well I knew you were… different. I just didn't know how, exactly."

"Well, now you do," he said.

Rapunzel looked to Hiccup. "Did you know about this?"

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

Rapunzel began to blush too. "Well. Now I'm embarrassed."

"Let's just go," Jack said, turning back around to face the passage ahead. "We don't have forever, you know. North usually goes back to his office at the end of the day, so it won't be empty for long."

They continued down the passage and finally came to a dead end- or at least, that's what it looked like until Jack found the opening latch. The door swung open into North's office, empty but for the glistening ice prototypes and the toys that both lined the walls and puttered through the air. He walked over to a shelf that contained a whole row of snow globe portals and picked one up.

"Where are going to?" Hiccup asked.

"Well," Jack answered, shaking the snow globe while walking back towards them, "I was thinking maybe… London."

"Never heard of it," Merida said.

"No, you wouldn't have," Jack replied, throwing the globe down. It burst into an explosion of color and sound. Jack could see vague shapes of buildings, bridges, and the river through the turbulent surface. "But I think you'll like it."

He stepped through the portal, the others following close behind. After much disorienting spinning, he emerged on the other side and breathed in the cold London air. It was a dark night, cloudy and overcast- conveniently blocking out the moon. That combined with the fact that London was a huge city made Jack sure they would have no trouble finding nightmares to fight. It would have been a perfect night for that sort of thing.

That is, if the portal hadn't opened several hundred feet in midair.

* * *

**I'm sorry you guys. I kept you waiting for so long and then this chapter is short and really rushed, I know. I promise I'll try and get the next one out faster and make it better. Especially since I guess that's a minor cliffie right there.**

**Okanee: I'm glad. This is my first time ever slipping into Hiccup's mindset, so I'm happy to hear it turned out well.**

**FlyingJellyfish: Sorry hon. If you want slash, I guarantee you there is plenty of HiJack out there. You don't even have to look that hard to find it.**

**PencilofAwesomeness: They do now. And yep, their reactions to the technological wonders of London should be fun to write ;)**

**Guest: Wouldn't you be? Haha :)**

**KrazyCat: Magical? Aw, thanks! And I totally agree with you. They don't choose just ****_anyone _****to be a Guardian, you know.**

**Gurl: Yes, we're going to assume that all weapons used against nightmares are made from stardust.**

**KrazyCat (again): I'm not dead! You should probably only worry about that if I said absolutely nothing for at least three months. You know, I read a story once where the author didn't update for seven years. I'm pretty sure most of her followers thought she was dead, too.**


End file.
